Unsteady laminar duct flow with a given volume flow rate variation

In this paper we give a procedure to obtain analytical solutions for unsteady laminar flow in an infinitely long pipe with circular cross section, and in an infinitely long two-dimensional channel, created by an arbitrary but given volume flow rate with time. In the literature, solutions have been reported when the pressure gradient variation with time is prescribed but not when the volume flow rate variation is. We present some examples: (a) the flow rate has a trapezoidal variation with time, (b) impulsively started flow, (c) fully developed flow in a pipe is impulsively blocked, and (d) starting from rest the volume flow rate oscillates sinusoidally.