Flow in a converging channel at moderate reynolds numbers

An analytical solution is found for flow in a converging channel for Reynolds numbers in the range of 10 2 to 10 3 . The solution applies to an axisymmetric channel, for which the shape is given by R 2 z=constant, where R is the channel radius at the axial distance z. This shape produces a center‐line or core velocity that increases linearly with z, thus making the extensional rate constant. The analytical solution is a pseudosimilarity solution of the axial momentum equation, and its accuracy was gauged by comparison to other results. Comparisons of velocity and pressure distributions to experimental data and to finite‐element results indicate that the analytical solution is accurate to about 5%.