Exact Solution of Navier-Stokes Equations

Exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with spiral or elliptical oscillation
between two infinite planes

Ming-Jie Zhang and Wei-Dong Su

Citation: Physics of Fluids (1994-present) 25, 073102 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4813629
View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4813629
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14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
PHYSICS OF FLUIDS 25, 073102 (2013)
Exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with spiral
or elliptical oscillation between two innite planes
Ming-Jie Zhang and Wei-Dong Su
a)
State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems and Department of Mechanics
and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
(Received 9 September 2012; accepted 24 May 2013; published online 19 July 2013)
Exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations between two innite planes are con-
sidered, where the velocity components parallel to the planes depend linearly on two
spatial coordinates, and the third component depends only on the coordinate perpen-
dicular to the planes. A class of unsteady exact solutions is found in this form with
spiral or elliptical oscillation as an eigenmode of exponential time dependence, which
can be arbitrarily superposed, while the pressure and boundary conditions remain un-
changed. As a specic case, the owbetween two innite rotating disks is considered,
and the corresponding eigenvalue problems are numerically investigated. Multiple
solutions have been taken into account under axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric
distributions of pressure. The eigenvalues, which are dependent on the Reynolds num-
ber, the rotation ratio, and the pressure parameter ratio, are calculated, and the phase
diagrams containing neutral curves are presented. It is shown that some axisymmetric
ows between two parallel rotating disks can be associated with an added periodic
oscillation at low frequency proportional to the rotation ratio and with arbitrarily
large amplitude.
C
2013 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4813629]
I. INTRODUCTION
Exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are important, as they represent fundamental uid
motion and serve as standards for checking the accuracy of numerical and asymptotic methods. In this
context, exact solutions are analytical solutions or a set of simpler ordinary or partial differential
equations reduced from the Navier-Stokes equations without any approximation. Extensive reviews
on this subject were presented by Wang
13
and by Drazin and Riley.
4
In this paper, we introduce
a wide class of exact solutions of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations which was rst
discovered by Lin
5
and studied by Aristov et al.
6
in reduced forms. The velocity and pressure elds
have the form
u = f (x, t ), (1)
v = g(x, t ) +k(x, t )y +h(x, t )z, (2)
w = (x, t ) +(x, t )y +(x, t )z, (3)
p = p
0
1
2
_
C
2
y
2
+2C
5
yz +C
4
z
2
+2C
1
y +2C
3
z + f
2
2
f
x
_
, (4)
where u, v, and w are the velocity components in Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z); t is the time; p
0
and
C
15
are arbitrary functions of t; and and are the uniform density and the kinematic viscosity
of the uid, respectively. There are seven unknown functions f, g, k, h, , , and in the exact
a)
Electronic mail: swd@pku.edu.cn.
1070-6631/2013/25(7)/073102/17/$30.00 C
2013 AIP Publishing LLC 25, 073102-1
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
073102-2 M.-J. Zhang and W.-D. Su Phys. Fluids 25, 073102 (2013)
solutions, which are governed by seven partial differential equations with x and t as variables. For
steady solutions, the variable t disappears, and the partial differential equations turn into ordinary
differential equations with respect to x.
This form of velocity and pressure leads to a wide class of exact solutions of the Navier-
Stokes equations, describing the ow between two parallel innite planes with suction or injection
at each plane, such as plane ow, stretching ow, stagnation-point ow, and rotating disk ow.
The points in the two planes can have velocities with a linear dependence on two spatial vari-
ables y and z, i.e., allowing elliptical, hyperbolic, parabolic, and spiral motions. In the present
paper, we construct a class of unsteady exact solutions and the corresponding eigenvalue problem,
where g(x, t ) =
n=1
g
n
(x) exp(
n
t ), (x, t ) =
n=1
n
(x) exp(
n
t ) and the other functions are
all time-independent. We note that there are many other exact solutions that contain exponential
time dependence. For example, Merkin
7
studied mixed convection boundary layer ow, in which
exponential terms were introduced to test the linear temporal stability of the solutions. Weidman
et al.
810
extended Merkins method to study self-similar boundary layer ow driven by a moving
surface, uniform shear ow, and radial stagnation ow. Hui
11
and Shapiro
12
studied wave-like ow.
Weidman and Mahalingam
13
considered axisymmetric stagnation-point ow impinging on an os-
cillating plate with suction. Aristov and Gitman
14
considered the ow between two moving parallel
disks. Zaturska and Banks
15
studied the ow in a channel with porous walls and considered the
effect of three-dimensional disturbances on the temporal stability of the ow. Many solutions can
also be found in the book by Drazin and Riley.
4
In this paper, we concentrate on the ows produced by the rotation of the two planes to investigate
the behavior of the unsteady solutions. The ow between two innite parallel rotating disks with
exact solutions has been the subject of numerous studies.
16
Most works were focused on solutions
with axisymmetric velocity (k , h ), which were initially considered by Batchelor
17
and
Stewartson.
18
The existence and non-uniqueness of these solutions were investigated. Keller and
Szeto
19
obtained solutions for s [ 1, 1] (angular velocity ratio of the top disk to the bottom disk)
with Re up to 1000, where Re is the Reynolds number based on the angular velocity of the bottom
disk and the distance between the two disks. The authors concluded that the solution is unique for
Re 55. As Re increases, the solution branches become increasingly complex. Holodniok et al.
20
studied the ow at Re = 625 for s [ 1, 1] and identied 19 solution branches. Using an
analytical method, Kreiss and Parter
21
established the existence and non-uniqueness of solutions for
s [1, 1] when Re is sufciently large. Furthermore, Rajagopal et al.
22, 23
considered the ow
between two rotating disks about a common axis or distinct axes. A class of asymmetric solutions,
which is the superposition of the K arm an ow and a rigid-body translation in each y z plane,
was studied. Recently, solutions with non-axisymmetric velocity bifurcating from axisymmetric
solutions were obtained for the ow between two rotating disks
2426
and the ow between two
porous planes with suction/injection.
27, 28
Overall, all of these solutions belong to Lins class of
exact solutions, as formulated in Eqs. (1)(4), wherein g and either vanish or do not depend on
time. Our unsteady exact solutions also belong to Lins class of solutions. However, to the best of
our knowledge, the solutions have never been postulated and thus justify further investigation.
In Sec. II of this paper, a mathematical formulation of the unsteady exact solutions is described,
and Sec. III focuses on the ow between two innite parallel rotating disks under an axisymmetric
pressure eld. Both the axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric velocity solutions are considered.
Section IV considers suction and injection. Section V considers ow between two rotating disks
under non-axisymmetric pressure elds (C
2
= C
4
, C
5
= 0). This is a natural extension to the
existing studies covering only axisymmetric pressure elds (C
2
= C
4
, C
5
= 0). The discussion and
conclusions are presented in Sec. VI.
II. FORMULATION
Substituting Eqs. (1)(4) into the Navier-Stokes equations for an incompressible viscous
uid and introducing velocity scale U, length scale L, time scale L/U, and the Reynolds number
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
Re = UL/, we derive the following nondimensional governing equations:
f
x
+k + = 0, (5)
h
t
+ f
h
x
h
f
x

1
Re
2
h
x
2
= C
5
(t ), (6)
t
+ f

x

f
x

1
Re
x
2
= C
5
(t ), (7)
k
t
+ f
k
x
+k
2
+h
1
Re
2
k
x
2
= C
2
(t ), (8)
t
+ f

x
+
2
+h
1
Re
x
2
= C
4
(t ), (9)
g
t
+ f
g
x
+kg +h
1
Re
2
g
x
2
= C
1
(t ), (10)
t
+ f

x
+g +
1
Re
x
2
= C
3
(t ). (11)
Substituting the solutions of Eqs. (5)(9) into Eqs. (10) and (11), we obtain the solutions for g
and . We restrict x to the unit interval [0, 1], and thus the ow is bounded by two innite parallel
planes at x = 0 and x = 1.
In this paper, we consider a class of unsteady ow with
g(x, t ) = g(x) exp(t ), (x, t ) = (x) exp(t ), (12)
and we suppose that f, k, , h, and are independent of t; that C
2
, C
4
, and C
5
are constants; and
that C
1
= C
3
= 0. Furthermore, by a proper coordinate transform about (y, z), the parameter C
5
can
vanish in this case. Thus, without loss of generality, we set C
5
= 0 hereinafter.
Substituting the above equations into Eqs. (10) and (11) yields
g + f g
+kg +h
1
Re
g
= 0, (13)
+ f
+g +
1
Re
= 0. (14)
Thus, an eigenvalue problem is derived for g, , and under homogeneous boundary condi-
tions of g(0) = g(1) = (0) = (1) = 0. When the eigenvalues are discrete, more general
unsteady velocity components, expressed as the arbitrarily superposition of eigenmodes, viz.,
g(x, t )
n=1
g
n
(x) exp(
n
t ) and (x, t )
n=1
n
(x) exp(
n
t ), can be added to the steady base
ow described by the time-independent forms of Eqs. (5)(11), where g
n
,
n
, and
n
are the eigen-
functions and eigenvalues of Eqs. (13) and (14). In general, we have g
n
= g
nr
+ ig
ni
,
n
=
nr
+
i
ni
, and
n
=
nr
+ i
ni
in complex forms. The oscillation nature of the unsteady part depends on
the characteristics of the eigenvalues, especially the sign of the largest real parts of the eigenvalues;
hence, we can interpret the unsteady components as a type of horizontal disturbance and thereby
examine the stability of the base ow. However, it should be emphasized that such disturbances
can have arbitrary amplitudes and are not restricted to innitesimal linear disturbances.
We dene the differential operator as
L =
1
Re
E
d
dx
(
d
dx
) A, = exp
_
_
Ref dx
_
, A =
_
k h

_
, (15)
and the inner product of (x) and (x) as
, =
_
1
0
[
1

1
+
2

2
]dx, (16)
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
where Eis the unit matrix, =(
1
,
2
)
T
and =(
1
,
2
)
T
are vectors satisfying the homogeneous
boundary conditions (0) = (1) = (0) = (1) = 0, and the bar denotes a complex conjugate.
Equations (13) and (14) are transformed into a vectorial Sturm-Liouville problem
L(g, )
T
= (g, )
T
. (17)
For the case of a symmetric matrix A (h ), (x), and (x) satisfy
, L L, =
1
Re
[

]|
1
0
= 0. (18)
Thus, the eigenvalues are real, and the eigenfunctions are orthogonal. Conversely, for the case of
an asymmetric matrix A, such as in rotating disk ow, the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions may be
complex, with nonvanishing imaginary parts.
The asymptotic forms of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for large eigenvalues can be
obtained from a similar treatment to that used for the scalar Sturm-Liouville problem. Introduc-
ing the new vectorial function q(x)
1/2
(x), Eq. (17) can be transformed to regular Liouville
form
1
Re
E
d
2
q
dx
2

_
I +A +(
Ref
2
4

f
2
) I
_
q = 0. (19)
For large , from the asymptotic expansion
q(x) = e
i x
Re
_
q
0
(x) +()
1/2
q
1
(x) +
_
(20)
the estimate for the nth eigenvalue
n
and eigenfunction
n
can be derived as
n
(n)
2
/Re,
n
(x)
_
1/ sin(nx)
0
, n , (21)
where
0
is a constant vector. These estimates are useful in determining the convergence rate of
series expansion in g(x, t) and (x, t).
In the case of k h = 0, for each x, there exists a stagnation point (x, y
0
, z
0
) that satises
v, w = 0, where
y
0
=
1
k h
n=1
e
nr
t
_
(h
nr
g
nr
) cos
ni
t (h
ni
g
ni
) sin
ni
t
_
, (22)
z
0
=
1
k h
n=1
e
nr
t
_
(g
nr
k
nr
) cos
ni
t (g
ni
k
ni
) sin
ni
t
_
. (23)
For simplicity, we only add one eigenmode, say the one with the largest real part, to the base ow;
hence, at each xed x or in each plane parallel to the boundary planes, the locus of (x, y
0
, z
0
) is an
ellipse for
r
= 0 and
i
= 0, and a spiral for
r
= 0 and
i
= 0. When is real, at each x, the locus
of (x, y
0
, z
0
) will degenerate into a line. Furthermore, when k = h + 0 and
i
= 0, the
locus of (x, y
0
, z
0
) will be a circle (
r
= 0) or a logarithmic spiral (
r
= 0). The elliptical or spiral
oscillation of the locus of (x, y
0
, z
0
) corresponds to the same oscillatory behavior of the ow.
III. FLOW BETWEEN TWO ROTATING DISKS
The governing equations (5)(9) in Cartesian coordinates can be recast as
f f
+
1
2
[ f
2
+(k )
2
+(h +)
2
(h )
2
] +
1
Re
f
= C
2
+C
4
, (24)
f (k )
(k )
1
Re
(k )
= C
2
C
4
, (25)
f (h )
(h )
1
Re
(h )
= 0, (26)
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
f (h +)
(h +)
1
Re
(h +)
= 0, (27)
with the pressure eld
p p
0
=
1
2
2
L
2
(C
2
y
2
+C
4
z
2
)
1
2
(Ref
2
2 f
), (28)
where f, k, , h, and are functions of x and C
2
and C
4
are constants.
For ow between two rotating disks, the boundary conditions are
f (0) = f
(0) = k(0) = (0) = 0, (0) = 1, h(0) = 1, (29)

f (1) = f
(1) = k(1) = (1) = 0, (1) = s, h(1) = s, (30)

where s [ 1, 1] is the rotation ratio of the two disks; is the angular velocity of the bottom
disk (x = 0); s is the angular velocity of the top disk (x = 1); L is the distance between the two
disks; U = L is the velocity scale; and Re =
2
L/ is the Reynolds number based on the motion
of the bottom disk. There are ten boundary conditions for the ninth-order system with two pressure
parameters of C
2
and C
4
. We can prescribe the value of one parameter and leave the other to be
determined by the boundary conditions.
In this section, we consider the ow under an axisymmetric pressure eld (C
2
= C
4
), where
k and h + satisfy the same homogeneous equations and boundary conditions. In this eld,
C
2
= C
4
is the parameter to be determined. When k = h + 0, Eqs. (24)(27) are reduced
to the equations of the well-known von K arm an ow for two rotating disks with an axisymmetric
velocity. For counter-rotating disks (s < 0), k and h + may have nonvanishing solutions with
k = cos and h + = sin , corresponding to the non-axisymmetric solutions obtained
by Hewitt and Al-Azhari,
26
where is a function of x and is an arbitrary constant. In their
study, the bifurcation points at which the non-axisymmetric solutions appear in the (s, Re) space
were numerically calculated, and the solution structures upon approaching the critical boundaries of
Re = 0 and s = 0 were asymptotically analyzed. The existence domain of this solution is shown in
Fig. 1(b) (see also below).
We investigate two types of base ow: the axisymmetric ow (type I) and the non-axisymmetric
ow (type II). The fundamental parameters governing this problem are the Reynolds number Re
FIG. 1. Phase diagrams of the ow between two rotating disks under an axisymmetric pressure eld (C
2
= C
4
). (a) The
solid circles are the points when
1r
= 0 for type II. A is the domain for which
1r
> 0 for type II. (b) The solid circles are
the points when type II vanishes. The hollow circles are the points when
1r
=0 for type I. B is the existence domain of type
II; C is the domain for which
1r
> 0 for type I. The solid curve near s = 0 is the lower boundary of B. It does not intersect
with the axis s = 0.
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
TABLE I. Values of Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
at various s.
s 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2
Re
1
47.29 49.82 52.72 56.12 60.16 65.07 71.22 79.21 89.96
Re
2
48.55 51.15 54.18 57.75 62.10 67.51 74.54 84.30 99.52
Re
3
88.74 93.57 99.39 106.57 115.80 128.36 147.34 183.20 None
and the rotation ratio s. Type I considered here is the only branch of the von K arm an ow for two
rotating disks for which the existence interval of Re is (0, ). Here, we rst calculate the solution
at small values of Re and subsequently obtain the solution continuously at large values of Re. In the
case of type II, for 1 s 0.088, the solution exists when Re is smaller than a critical value
Re
2
and turns into type I when Re > Re
2
; for 0.088 s 0.055, the solution exists at all Re; for
0.055 s < 0, there is an s-dependent interval of Re wherein the solution vanishes. The pressure
parameters C
2
of types I and II are different. For type I, C
2
< 0 when Re is small and increases
gradually with increasing Re. For type II, C
2
as Re 0 and decreases with increasing Re
until it coincides with that of type I; whereafter, type II vanishes.
Many studies of unsteady rotating disk ow have focused on the initial-value problem.
29, 30
Here, we consider the eigenvalue problem, as formulated in Sec. II. Let
1
=
1r
+ i
1i
be
the eigenvalue with the largest real part. There are three groups of Reynolds numbers to be dis-
cussed in this section: Re
1
is the Reynolds number when
1r
= 0 for type II, Re
2
is the critical
Reynolds number beyond which type II vanishes, and Re
3
is the Reynolds number when
1r
=0 for
type I.
In the case of type I, numerical results show that the eigenvalues are real when s = 1 and
complex when s = 1. For 0.206 s 1,
1r
< 0; and for 1 s 0.206,
1r
> 0 when Re
is larger than a critical value Re
3
. In the case of type II, for 0.0195 s < 0,
1r
< 0; for 1 s
0.0195,
1r
> 0 when Re is smaller than a critical value Re
1
. The phase diagrams consisting of
separate domains divided by the three Reynolds numbers are shown in Fig. 1. The curves for Re
1
and Re
3
are neutral curves. An interesting observation shows Re
1
< Re
2
< Re
3
for xed s. It seems
that the curves for Re
2
and Re
3
have asymptotes of s 0.088 and s 0.206, respectively, when
Re . Tables I and II present values of Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
at various s.
Then, we consider the case of
1r
=0. For Re =Re
3
, Figs. 2 and 3 show steady velocity proles
f, k, h, and and periodical velocity proles in the y-direction g
r
cos
1i
t g
i
sin
1i
t at various s. Note
that =k, =h,
r
=g
i
, and
i
=g
r
. Figure 4 shows values of |
1i
| for type I for various s. The
ow is periodically oscillating in the same whirling direction as the bottom disk. It is observed that
the circular oscillation frequency |
1i
| approximately linearly increases with s, which can be tted as
|
1i
| =0.1576(s +1). The locus of the stagnation points at each plane parallel to the disks is a circle.
Figure 5 gives the radius of the circle R(x) =
_
y
2
0
+ z
2
0
varying with s, where the R(x) has been
normalized by its maximum within x [0, 1]. It can be seen that the plane with maximum oscillation
amplitude R gradually approaches the bottom disk (the disk with a larger rotation velocity) when s
increases. For type II, in contrast, numerical results show that
1i
= 0 when
1r
= 0. For Re = Re
1
,
Figs. 6 and 7 show steady velocity proles f, k, h, , g
r
, and
r
at various s. Here, we set k 0
and h + = .
TABLE II. Values of Re
1
at various s.
s 0.1 0.06 0.03 0.025 0.021 0.02 0.0196 0.019526 0.019525
Re
1
103.10 103.46 78.05 61.54 34.43 19.92 8.00 1.13 0.65
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 2. Type I, velocity proles f (x), k(x), h(x), and (x) for various values of s at Re
3
. = k, = h.
FIG. 3. Type I, normalized instantaneous velocity proles g
r
(x)cos
1i
t g
i
(x)sin
1i
t at different moments for s = 0.8
and 0.21 at Re
3
.
1i
t = n/4, n = 0, 1, 2, . . . , 7,
r
= g
i
,
i
= g
r
.
FIG. 4. Type I, variation of |
1i
| with s at Re
3
.
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 5. Type I, normalized R(x) =
_
y
2
0
+ z
2
0
by its maximum for various s at Re
3
.
IV. SUCTION AND INJECTION
In this section, for the type I solution, we consider the inuence of suction (f(0) < 0, f(1) > 0)
and injection (f(0) > 0, f(1) < 0) of the disks on the eigenvalues. Let us integrate Eqs. (13) and (14),
yielding
r
_
1
0
(|g|
2
+||
2
)dx =
_
1
0
_
k|g|
2
1
2
f
(|g|
2
+||
2
)
+(h +)(g
r
r
+ g
i
i
) +||
2
+
1
Re
(|g
|
2
+|
|
2
)
_
dx. (31)
For axisymmetric ows, including type I, k = h + 0. Equation (31) is then reduced to
r
_
1
0
(|g|
2
+||
2
)dx =
_
1
0
_
f
(|g|
2
+||
2
)
1
Re
(|g
|
2
+|
|
2
)
_
dx. (32)
FIG. 6. Type II, velocity proles f (x), k(x), h(x), and (x) for various values of s at Re
1
. k 0, h + = .
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 7. Type II, normalized velocity proles g
r
(x) and
r
(x) for various values of s at Re
1
.
Therefore, we observe that
r
< 0 when f
is always negative. It seems that suction is more likely

to lead to
r
> 0 than injection, i.e., Re
3
may decrease with the increasing suction velocity or
increase with the increasing injection velocity. Two instances are given by numerical calculation,
respectively, where the suction and injection on the disks are assumed to be symmetrical (f(1)
= f (0)) for convenience of discussion. For exact counter-rotating disks(s = 1), the results in
Table III indicate that Re
3
increases when the boundary conditions change from suction to injection.
Moreover,
1r
can be positive and zero for co-rotating disks (s >0) with suction on the disks, whereas
1r
is negative without suction. The data in Table IV provide values of Re
3
at various suction and
injection velocities in the case of s = 0.5.
V. DISK FLOW UNDER NON-AXISYMMETRIC PRESSURE FIELDS
In this section, we consider the ow between two rotating disks under a non-axisymmetric
pressure eld (C C
4
/C
2
= 1) and concentrate on C [0, 1) in most cases. The pressure contours
are a series of ellipses (C (0, 1)) or degenerate cases parallel lines (C = 0). C
2
and C
4
are to
be determined by a given ratio of the pressure parameter C, the ratio of rotation velocity s, and the
Reynolds number. It was found that h + 0 for all of the solutions we obtained.
A. 1 s < 0
For C (0, 1), we found three coexisting solutions (I, II, III) when Re is smaller than a critical
Reynolds number Re
c
, beyond which two solutions (I and II) vanish. Solution III exists for Re
(0, ) and passes through a point in the (Re, C
2
) plane where C
2
= C
4
= 0, corresponding to a
zero pressure gradient in the (y, z) plane. It should be noted that these three branches of solutions
bifurcate out of the two type of solutions at C = 1.
For the eigenvalue problem, here, we introduce Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
as the Reynolds numbers for
which
1r
= 0 for solutions I, II, and III, respectively. It was found that C
2
and
1r
of solution II are
TABLE III. Values of Re
3
at various suction/injection velocities (s = 1).
f(0) 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.2
Re
3
10.61 14.12 20.92 37.52 55.63 88.74 149.74 253.33 941.39
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
TABLE IV. Values of Re
3
at various suction/injection velocities (s = 0.5).
f(0) 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.35 0
Re
3
4.29 5.40 7.31 11.49 13.54 None
larger than those of solution I for the same values of s, C, and Re, and there is a critical point (C
0
,
Re
c0
) on the CRe
c
curve where
1r
= 0. For solution I, if C C
0
, then
1r
> 0 when Re
1
< Re
Re
c
; if C C
0
,
1r
is always negative. For solution II, if C C
0
, then
1r
< 0 when Re
2
< Re
Re
c
; if C C
0
,
1r
is always positive. Moreover, it shows that
1r
is always positive if C
2
is positive.
1. s = 1
For C (0, 1), when C 1, Re
c
48.55, at which point, the type II solution vanishes; Re
c
when C 0
+
. Solution III passes through the point (42.36, 0). Figure 8(a) displays ReC
2
curves for C =0.8, 0.4, and 0.2, and Fig. 8(c) displays ReC
2
curves for C =1, 0.995, and 0.99. For
C =0, solutions I and III exist for Re (0, ), and solution II vanishes as C
2
when C 0
+
.
Here, we further consider the case of C [ 1, 0). We found two solutions (I and III) when Re is
smaller than a critical Reynolds number Re
c
. Re
c
when C 0
. Solutions I and III intersect

at the point (42.36, 0). In the case of C = 1, solutions I and III correspond to the same ow with
FIG. 8. s = 1. (a) ReC
2
curves for solutions I, II, and III with C = 0.8, 0.4, and 0.2. The bifurcation points at which
solutions I and II vanish are (42.4423, 0.0196), (51.0966, 0.2426), and (72.0966, 0.3447), respectively. (b) ReC
2
curves
for solutions I and III with C = 1, 0.8, 0.4, and 0.2. The bifurcation points at which solutions I and III vanish are
(178.919, 0), (179.695, 0.00177), (192.197, 0.00894), and (221.167, 0.01607), respectively. (c) ReC
2
curves for solutions I,
II, and III with C = 0.995, and 0.99. The bifurcation points are (47.6864, 0.0928) for C = 0.995 and (47.2113, 0.0914)
for C = 0.99. The point beyond which the type II solution vanishes is (48.55, 0.0955). (d) Variation of Re
c
with C
[ 1, 1].
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 9. Variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C for s =1. Re
c
is the critical Reynolds number beyond which solutions
I and II vanish, and Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
are the Reynolds numbers for which
1r
= 0 for solutions I, II, and III, respectively. A
is the domain for which
1r
< 0 for solution I, and B is the domain for which
1r
< 0 for solutions III.
opposite C
2
. Figure 8(b) shows ReC
2
curves for C = 1, 0.8, 0.4, 0.2, and 0, and Fig. 8(d)
shows Re
c
for C [ 1, 1].
Then, we consider the eigenvalue problem. Here, (C
0
, Re
c0
) = (0.9580, 45.3965), as shown in
Fig. 9. For solution III, if C 0.852, there is a domain in the (C, Re) plane where
1r
< 0; if C
0.852,
1r
is always positive. Figure 9 shows variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C. It was
found that Re
1
and Re
2
decrease as C decreases.
2. 1 < s 0.088
For C [0, 1), Fig. 10(a) shows CRe
c
curves for s = 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, and 0.2. Re
c
is nite when C = 0. Here, we consider the case of s = 0.5 as an example. When C 1, Re
c
67.51, at which point, the type II solution vanishes. Solutions III passes through the point (58.13,
0). Figure 10(b) displays ReC
2
curves for C = 0.8, 0.4, and 0. Figure 10(c) shows variations of
Re
c
, Re
1
, and Re
3
with C. Here (C
0
, Re
c0
) =(0.9453, 61.9529), as shown in Fig. 10(d). For solution
III, if C 0.460, there is a domain in the (C, Re) plane where
1r
< 0; if C 0.460,
1r
is always
positive.
3. 0.088 s 0.055
Consider the case of s = 0.08 as an example. For C = 1, types I and II solutions exist for Re
(0, ), as discussed in Sec. III. It should be noted that the CRe
c
curve is discontinuous at C
0.9977, from Re
c
= 144.12 at C = 0.99765 to Re
c
= 578.94 at C = 0.9977, as shown in Fig. 11.
Re
c
when C 1. Here, (C
0
, Re
c0
) = (0.9140, 97.2676). For solution III,
1r
> 0 when Re <
Re
3
and
1r
< 0 when Re > Re
3
. Figures 11(a) and 11(b) present ReC
2
curves for solutions I, II,
and III with C = 0.998, 0.995, and 0.99. Variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C are shown in
Figs. 11(c) and 11(d).
4. 0.055 s < 0
Consider the case of s = 0.04 as an example. For C = 1, the type I solution exists for Re
(0, ); the type II solution exists for Re (0, 103.96) and (152.92, ). We notice that for C
0.936, one pair of solutions (IV, V) appears when Re (Re
c1
, Re
c2
). Re
c1
152.92 when C
1, and Re
c2
when C 1. We have (C
0
, Re
c0
) = (0.8128, 88.0608), as shown in Fig. 12(c).
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 10. (a) Variation of Re
c
with C for s = 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, and 0.2. (b) s = 0.5, ReC
2
curves for solutions
I, II, and III with C = 0.8, 0.4, and 0. The bifurcation points at which solutions I and II vanish are (58.2670, 0.0106),
(70.3130, 0.1114), and (103.2659, 0.0540). (c) and (d) s =0.5, variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C. A is the domain
for which
1r
< 0 for solution I, and B is the domain for which
1r
< 0 for solution III.
For solution III,
1r
> 0 when Re < Re
3
, and
1r
< 0 when Re > Re
3
. For solutions IV and V,
1r
is always negative. Figure 12(a) shows ReC
2
curves for solutions I, II, III, IV, and V with C =
0.995 and 0.99. Variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C are shown in Fig. 12(c). Figure 12(b)
presents ReC
2
curves for solutions IV and V with C = 0.95, 0.94, and 0.936, and Fig. 12(d) gives
the existence interval of solutions IV and V.
As discussed above, for each investigated s [1, 0), there exists a point (C
0
, Re
c0
) on the
CRe
c
curve where
1r
= 0. We plot the velocity proles f(x), k(x), (x), h(x), (x), g(x), and (x) at
these points for selected values of the rotation ratio s = 1, 0.5, 0.08, and 0.04, as shown in
Figs. 13 and 14. A numerical calculation shows that
1i
= 0, meaning there are no oscillatory ows
under these marginal parameters.
B. 0 s 1
For C [0, 1), we found one solution (I) that exists when Re is smaller than a critical Reynolds
number Re
1c
. Re
1c
when C 1. This solution should be the natural continuation for type I at
C = 1. Meanwhile, a new solution (II) appears when Re is smaller than a critical Reynolds number
Re
2c
. Figure 15 shows the case of s = 0 and s = 0.5 as examples. A numerical calculation shows
that
1r
< 0 for solution I and
1r
> 0 for solution II.
VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we considered a class of unsteady exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations
between two innite parallel planes based on the general form of exact solutions that Lin initially
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 11. s =0.08. (a) ReC
2
curves for solutions I and II with C =0.998, 0.995, and 0.99. The bifurcation points at which
solutions I and II vanish are (632.38, 0.0200), (124.75, 0.0148), and (116.51, 0.0132). (b) ReC
2
curves for solutions
I, II, and III with C = 0.998, 0.995, and 0.99. This is locally enlarged for (a). (c) Variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C
[0, 0.9977). (d) Variation of Re
c
with C [0.9977, 1).
found. As the superposition of (0, g
n
(x)exp (
n
t),
n
(x)exp (
n
t)), each eigenmode of which gives
rise to spiral or elliptical oscillation, the unsteady velocity components can be added to the steady
base ow.
Under homogeneous boundary conditions, the solutions of g
n
(x),
n
(x), and
n
correspond to
a vectorial Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problem. We focused particularly on the properties of the
eigenvalues
1
=
1r
+ i
1i
with the largest real part. The unsteady velocity components grow to
innity when
1r
> 0 or decay to zero when
1r
< 0. A periodic or steady solution exists when
1r
= 0.
The most intriguing feature of the ow is that the pressure and boundary conditions can be
steady, whereas the velocity is unsteady. In this ow, the unsteadiness is completely caused by the
imbalance between the convective acceleration, the viscous term, and the steady pressure gradient,
and we wonder whether other exact solutions have the same property. It should be emphasized that
although the unsteady components can be regarded as a type of linear disturbance, the strength of the
unsteady components is unlimited. This property comes from the fact that the unsteady disturbance
itself is free of acceleration and hence does not produce a high-order nonlinear term.
The ow between two innite rotating disks was investigated. For the ow under an axisym-
metric pressure eld (C
2
=C
4
), the inuence of the rotation ratio s, the Reynolds number Re (based
on the angular velocity of the bottom disk), suction and injection on the disks, and the pressure
parameter C
2
were numerically studied for two types of base ow: axisymmetric ow (type I) and
non-axisymmetric ow (type II). In the cases without suction and injection, phase diagrams contain-
ing the neutral curves were presented. It was found that the periodic oscillation can occur in the base
ow of type I when 1 s 0.206. The circular oscillation frequency |
1i
|, which depends ap-
proximately linearly on s as |
1i
| 0.1576(s +1), is substantially smaller than the frequency scale .
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 12. s = 0.04. (a) ReC
2
curves for solutions I, II, III, IV, and V with C = 0.995 and 0.99. The bifurcation points at
which solutions I and II vanish are (101.537, 0.0067) for C = 0.995 and (100.266, 0.0067) for C = 0.99. The bifurcation
points at which solutions IV and V appear are (164.689, 0.0130) for C = 0.995 and (172.798, 0.0137) for C = 0.99. (b)
ReC
2
curves for solutions IV and V with C = 0.95, 0.94, and 0.936. (Re
c1
, Re
c2
) are (251.66, 603.17), (297.67, 463.95),
and (352.78, 381.03), respectively. (c) Variations of Re
c
, Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
with C. (d) Variations of Re
c1
and Re
c2
with C.
The existence interval of solutions IV and V is (Re
c1
, Re
c2
).
For type II, the periodic oscillation ow will not occur, as
1i
= 0 when
1r
= 0. It was shown
that the non-axisymmetric ow with 1 s 0.0195 is unstable at a small Reynolds number.
In addition, the cases with symmetrical suction or injection on the two disks were investigated. It
was shown that the ow with injection seems more stable (
1r
< 0) than the ow with suction,
which can be illustrated qualitatively by an integral identity derived from the equations satised by
the unsteady terms. Indeed, the injection alleviates the ow stretching caused by the rotating disks
and thus enhances the stability of the ow.
Furthermore, we investigated the ow under a non-axisymmetric pressure eld (C
2
= C
4
).
Letting C
4
=C C
2
, we primarily concentrated on the cases of C [0, 1), whose pressure contours
are ellipses or a degenerate case parallel lines. Multiple branches of solutions and bifurcation
behaviors were obtained. We divided the interval of s into ve groups s = 1, 1 < s 0.088,
0.088 s 0.055, 0.055 s < 0, and s 0 which show different bifurcation behaviors,
as discussed in Sec. V. We found that there may be three coexisting solutions under small Reynolds
numbers. These three solutions stem from the leftward (along the decreasing direction of C for xed
s and Re) bifurcation of type II in the case of C =1, or the downward (along the decreasing direction
of Re for xed s and C) bifurcation of the sole solution at C (0, 1). The phase diagrams containing
the bifurcation Reynolds number Re
c
and neutral curves (Re
1
, Re
2
, and Re
3
as functions of C, where
1r
= 0) have been presented in parameter planes (C, Re) for selected typical values of rotating
ratio s. We have shown that, for the value of C near 1, the bifurcation structure and dependence of
eigenvalues of parameters are more complicated than those of C not near 1. We think that the ow
under an approximate axisymmetric pressure (C 1) is more physically meaningful, and it is also
a reasonable extension to the ow under an axisymmetric pressure.
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 13. Velocity proles f(x), k(x), (x), h(x), and (x) for s = 1, 0.5, 0.08, and 0.04 at (C
0
, Re
c0
), where
1r
= 0.
(C
0
, Re
c0
) is (0.9580, 45.3965), (0.9453, 61.9529), (0.9140, 97.2676), and (0.8128, 88.0608), respectively. The pressure
parameter C
2
is 0.08206, 0.04140, 0.00684, and 0.00390, respectively.
FIG. 14. Normalized velocity proles g
r
(x) and
r
(x) for s = 1, 0.5, 0.08, and 0.04 at (C
0
, Re
c0
), where
1r
=
1i
= 0.
14.139.181.229 On: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:01:03
FIG. 15. (a) s = 0. (b) s = 0.5. Variations of Re
1c
and Re
2c
with C. Re
1c
and Re
2c
are the Reynolds numbers beyond which
solutions I and II vanish, respectively.
It should be noted that in this paper, we only considered the branches of the solutions at small or
moderate values of Re because of the tremendous difculties with exhausting all branches at large
values of Re. Meanwhile, much attention was paid to the eigenvalue properties rather than to the
ow structures. On the other hand, more axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric base ows may be
obtained by solving Eqs. (5)(11) or Eqs. (24)(27) under injection or suction boundary conditions
and possible dynamic pressure parameters to study the possible additional periodic oscillating ows
and/or other more complicated unsteady ows under a more extensive background.
The solutions given by Lin can be regarded as the local Taylor expansion for the general
incompressible viscous ow; thus, many ows in the vicinity of some crucial locations of particular
interest can be modeled approximately using this solution. The oscillation ows are of special
signicance in nature and industrial applications. The unsteady exact solutions that we proposed
may correspond to the real oscillating ow or describe the local oscillation of certain complicated
ows when the boundary conditions and pressure parameters are appropriately given. Afewexamples
include the spiral vortex breakdown, the low-frequency pressure uctuation in certain giant Francis
hydraulic turbines, and certain oscillations in the atmosphere and the oceans. Further work on
bridging real oscillating ows and the unsteady exact solutions proposed in the present paper is
required.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the discussions with Professor Jian-Jun Tao and Professor Qing-Dong
Cai. We are indebted to two anonymous referees for valuable comments. This work is supported by
MOST of China (Grant No. 2009CB724100) and NSFC (Grant No. 10921202).
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Exact Solution of Navier-Stokes Equations

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Exact Solution of Navier-Stokes Equations

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Exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations with spiral or elliptical oscillation

between two infinite planes

(0) = k(0) = (0) = 0, (0) = 1, h(0) = 1, (29)

(1) = k(1) = (1) = 0, (1) = s, h(1) = s, (30)

is always negative. It seems that suction is more likely

. Solutions I and III intersect

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