Analytical series solution for the fully developed forced convection duct flow with frictional heating and variable viscosity

Laminar forced convection flow of a liquid in the fully developed region of a circular duct with isothermal wall is analyzed. The effects of viscous dissipation as well as of temperature dependent viscosity are taken into account. The coupled momentum and energy equations are solved analytically by means of a power series method. Then, reference is made to the Poiseuille model for the temperature change of viscosity. For a fixed value of the axial pressure gradient along the duct, dual solutions are found for the velocity and temperature fields. Although dual solutions correspond to the same value of the axial pressure gradient, they lead in general to different values of the average fluid velocity, of the average fluid temperature and of the wall heat flux. It is shown that, for a given fluid and for a fixed duct radius, the absolute value of the axial pressure gradient has an upper bound above which no steady laminar solution can exist.