Fluid flow across a wavy channel brought in contact

Abstract

A pressure driven flow in contact interface between elastic solids with wavy surfaces is studied. We consider a strong coupling between the solid and the fluid problems, which is relevant when the fluid pressure is comparable with the contact pressure. An approximate analytical solution is obtained for this coupled problem. A finite-element monolithically coupled framework is used to solve the problem numerically. A good agreement is obtained between the two solutions within the region of the validity of the analytical one. A power-law interface transmissivity decay is observed near the percolation. Finally, we showed that the external pressure needed to seal the channel is an affine function of the inlet pressure and does not depend on the outlet pressure.