In this work, the problem of oscillatory flow of a Newtonian fluid in a tapered pipe is considered. Fluid flow equations have been derived assuming that the fluid is incompressible and the flow axi-symmetric. The taper function is defined such that radius of the pipe reduces continuously by a fraction of itself over the length of the pipe. Womersley number has been introduced into the field equations to understand the oscillatory flow mechanism. The resulting coupled system of non-linear partial differential equations in terms of the radial and axial components of the fluid velocity vector have been solved for its steady state solution using the homotopy perturbation method. Variation of velocity, wall shear stress and volume flux with respect to the frequency of oscillations, fraction of tapering, aspect ratio (defined as the ratio of radius of the pipe to its length) and Womersley number have been studied and the results are presented and discussed.

oscillatory flow, Newtonian fluid, tapered pipe, Womersley number, homotopy perturbation method.