Study of transient peristaltic heat flow through a finite porous channel

Analytical and computational studies on transient peristaltic heat flow through a finite length porous channel are presented in this paper. Results for the temperature field, axial velocity, transverse velocity, pressure gradient, local wall shear stress, volume flow rate, averaged volume flow, mechanical efficiency, and stream function are obtained under the assumption of low Reynolds number (Re -> 0) and long wavelength approximation (a << lambda -> infinity). The current two-dimensional analysis is applicable in biofluid mechanics, industrial fluid mechanics, and some of the engineering fields. The impact of physical parameters such as permeability parameter, Grashof number and thermal conductivity on the velocity field, pressure distribution, local wall shear stress, mechanical efficiency of peristaltic pump, and two inherent phenomena (reflux and trapping) are depicted with the help of computational results. The main conclusions that can be drawn out of this study is that peristaltic heat flow resists more porous medium whereas the peristaltic heat flow improves with increasing magnitude of Grashof number, and thermal conductivity. The results of Tripathi (2012) [42] can be obtained by taking out the effects of porosity from this model. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.