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Main Authors: Maches, Zachary, Houssais, Morgane, Sauret, Alban, Meiburg, Eckart
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.10381
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author Maches, Zachary
Houssais, Morgane
Sauret, Alban
Meiburg, Eckart
author_facet Maches, Zachary
Houssais, Morgane
Sauret, Alban
Meiburg, Eckart
contents Laboratory experiments and particle-resolved simulations are employed to investigate the settling dynamics of a pair of rigidly connected spherical particles of unequal size. They yield a detailed picture of the transient evolution and the terminal values of the aggregate's orientation angle and its settling and drift velocities as functions of the aspect ratio and the Galileo number $Ga$, which denotes the ratio of buoyancy and viscous forces acting on the aggregate. At low to moderate values of $Ga$, the aggregate's orientation and velocity converge to their terminal values monotonically, whereas for higher $Ga$-values the aggregate tends to undergo a more complex motion. If the aggregate assumes an asymmetric terminal orientation, it displays a nonzero terminal drift velocity. For diameter ratios much larger than one and small $Ga$, the terminal orientation of the aggregate becomes approximately vertical, whereas when $Ga$ is sufficiently large for flow separation to occur, the aggregate orients itself such that the smaller sphere is located at the separation line. Empirical scaling laws are obtained for the terminal settling velocity and orientation angle as functions of the aspect ratio and $Ga$ for diameter ratios from 1 to 4 and particle-to-fluid density ratios from 1.3 to 5. An analysis of the accompanying flow field shows the formation of vortical structures exhibiting complex topologies in the aggregate's wake, and it indicates the formation of a horizontal pressure gradient across the larger sphere, which represents the main reason for the emergence of the drift velocity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_10381
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Settling of two rigidly connected spheres
Maches, Zachary
Houssais, Morgane
Sauret, Alban
Meiburg, Eckart
Fluid Dynamics
Laboratory experiments and particle-resolved simulations are employed to investigate the settling dynamics of a pair of rigidly connected spherical particles of unequal size. They yield a detailed picture of the transient evolution and the terminal values of the aggregate's orientation angle and its settling and drift velocities as functions of the aspect ratio and the Galileo number $Ga$, which denotes the ratio of buoyancy and viscous forces acting on the aggregate. At low to moderate values of $Ga$, the aggregate's orientation and velocity converge to their terminal values monotonically, whereas for higher $Ga$-values the aggregate tends to undergo a more complex motion. If the aggregate assumes an asymmetric terminal orientation, it displays a nonzero terminal drift velocity. For diameter ratios much larger than one and small $Ga$, the terminal orientation of the aggregate becomes approximately vertical, whereas when $Ga$ is sufficiently large for flow separation to occur, the aggregate orients itself such that the smaller sphere is located at the separation line. Empirical scaling laws are obtained for the terminal settling velocity and orientation angle as functions of the aspect ratio and $Ga$ for diameter ratios from 1 to 4 and particle-to-fluid density ratios from 1.3 to 5. An analysis of the accompanying flow field shows the formation of vortical structures exhibiting complex topologies in the aggregate's wake, and it indicates the formation of a horizontal pressure gradient across the larger sphere, which represents the main reason for the emergence of the drift velocity.
title Settling of two rigidly connected spheres
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.10381