Interaction of peristaltic motion with Poiseuille flow

The effect of Poiseuille flow on peristaltic transport has been investigated in a two-dimensional mathematical model of peristalsis for the case when the wall of the channel executes a sinusoidal motion of small amplitude. Closed-form solutions have been obtained for limiting values of Reynolds number and the Poiseuille flow parameter, while the method of Frobenius series solution has been used for the general case. It is found that the mean flow reversal is strongly dependent on the Poiseuille flow. The position of flow reversal may change drastically from the center of the channel to the boundaries. Numberical results are reported for various values of the physical parameters of interest.     

On the influence of wall properties and Poiseuille flow in peristalsis

The present study extends the two-dimensional analysis of peristaltic motion by Fung and Yih to include an elastic or viscoelastic wall, and a Poiseuille flow. This fluid-solid interaction problem is investigated by considering equations of motion of both the fluid and the deformable boundaries. The wall characteristics appear in their equations of motion, which are solved to represent boundary conditions of fluid motion. The influence of Poiseuille flow on pure peristalisis is also investigated.

The phenomenon of the ‘mean flow reversal’ is found to exist both at the center and at the boundaries of the channel. When the walls of the channel are elastic, pure peristalsis involves flow reversal only at the center. This position may shift drastically to the boundaries, if viscous damping forces are considered.