Forces of a fluid in a rotating straight pipe (Q1101303)

The fluid flow through a rotating straight pipe is considered, the axis of rotation being perpendicular to the pipe axis. The flow of the fluid is taken as fully developed, i.e. the velocity field is assumed to be the same in all transverse cross-sections of the pipe. The derivation presented applies to viscous and nonviscous incompressible fluids. For constant angular pipe velocity \(\Omega\) a simple and exact (Coriolis type) relation \(F=2Q(t)\Omega\) is derived between the force F by which the fluid acts on the (unit length of the) pipe in the direction perpendicular to the two axes, the fluid mass flow rate Q(t) through the pipe, and the angular velocity \(\Omega\). Variable angular velocities, i.e. \(d\Omega\) /dt\(\neq 0\), introduce an additional term into the expression for the inertial force F, which depends only on \(d\Omega\) /dt and on known (constant) parameters; this term is known for given angular velocity \(\Omega\) (t). The flow configuration investigated here is an idealization of those appearing (over short space and time intervals) in the devices measuring mass flow rate Q(t) through the (Coriolis) force F. Therefore the exact results derived here cast some light on the degree of precision one expectes in these devices, where more complicated flow configurations are present than those looked at in this paper.