Fluid flow between two parallel active plates

Abstract

This paper investigates the fluid flow phenomenon arising from the combined action of two parallel plates, which can expand/squeeze, absorb/inject, and stretch/shrink at different rates. These physical mechanisms are incorporated into the governing unsteady Navier–Stokes equations, which are then reduced to a fourth-order nonlinear differential equation with boundary conditions reflecting the imposed wall constraints. By letting the permeable Reynolds number (controlling the nonlinear convective terms) limit to zero, we demonstrate the existence of exact solutions expressed in terms of advanced mathematical functions. Additionally, in the absence of wall expansion/contraction, elementary exponential solutions are obtained under particular relationships between the stretching/shrinking and permeability parameters. A shear-like exact solution with broader applicability across various physical parameters is also identified. For moderate values of the expansion/squeezing parameters and permeable Reynolds numbers, we propose an efficient double-expansion perturbation analysis to approximate the flow behavior. Otherwise, for general physical parameters, a comprehensive mathematical analysis is provided and numerical simulations are employed to extract insights into the complex fluid motion between the parallel plates.