Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2018
We consider a non-stationary incompressible non-Newtonian Stokes system in a porous medium with characteristic size of the pores ϵ and containing a thin fissure of width ηϵ. The viscosity is supposed to obey the power law with flow index $\frac{5}{3}\leq q\leq 2$. The limit when size of the pores tends to zero gives the homogenized behaviour of the flow. We obtain three different models depending on the magnitude ηϵ with respect to ϵ: if ηϵ ≪ $\varepsilon^{q\over 2q-1}$ the homogenized fluid flow is governed by a time-dependent non-linear Darcy law, while if ηϵ ≫ $\varepsilon^{q\over 2q-1}$ is governed by a time-dependent non-linear Reynolds problem. In the critical case, ηϵ ≈ $\varepsilon^{q\over 2q-1}$, the flow is described by a time-dependent non-linear Darcy law coupled with a time-dependent non-linear Reynolds problem.