Investigation of a laminar flow of a non-Netonian fluid in a helical pipe

This paper presents a numerical study of a fully developed laminar flow of a non-Newtonian fluid in a helical pipe. An orthogonal helical coordinate system is utilized and the Navier-Stokes equations for the non-Newtonian fluid in this coordinate system are derived. The SIMPLE algorithm with a staggered grid is adopted to solve the governing equations. The effects of the pressure gradient, the curvature, and the torsion on the fully developed laminar flow in helical pipes are investigated. The comparison of flow dynamics between Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids is presented.