Effect of yield stress on the flow of a Casson fluid in a homogeneous porous medium bounded by a circular tube

The effect of yield stress on the flow characteristics of a Casson fluid in a homogeneous porous medium bounded by a circular tube is investigated by employing the Brinkman model to account for the Darcy resistance offered by the porous medium. The non-linear coupled implicit system of differential equations governing the flow is first transformed into suitable integral equations and are solved numerically. Analytical solution is obtained for a Newtonian fluid in the case of constant permeability, and the numerical solution is verified with that of the analytic solution. The effect of yield stress of the fluid and permeability of the porous medium on shear stress and velocity distributions, plug flow radius and flow rate are examined. The minimum pressure gradient required to start the flow is found to be independent of the permeability of the porous medium and is equal to the yield stress of the fluid.