Adaptive Hagen–Poiseuille flows on graphs

We derive a class of equations describing low Reynolds number steady flows of incompressible and viscous fluids in networks made of straight channels, with several sources and sinks and adaptive conductivities. A graph represents the network, and the fluxes at sources and sinks control the flow. The adaptive conductivities describe the transverse channel elasticities, mirroring several network structures found in physics and biology. Minimising the dissipated energy per unit of time, we have found an explicit form for the adaptation equations and, asymptotically in time, a steady state tree geometry for the graph connecting sources and sinks is reached. A phase transition tuned by an order parameter for the adapted steady state graph has been found. •A new class of equations describing fluid flows in networks has been derived.•The flows reach an optimised steady state with a tree geometry.•The adaptive conductivities describe the transverse channel elasticities.•The volume of the fluid is conserved during the adaptation.