On the sedimentation of a sphere in a centrifuge

The flow field about a small, slowly sedimenting particle in a centrifuge is examined using matched asymptotic expansions. The near field is dominated by Stokes flow while in the far field a non-axisymmetric cubical conical structure (a viscously modified Taylor column) is found. This far field indu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fluid mechanics 1975-03, Vol.68 (2), p.209-234
Main Authors: Herron, Isom H., Davis, Stephen H., Bretherton, Francis P.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The flow field about a small, slowly sedimenting particle in a centrifuge is examined using matched asymptotic expansions. The near field is dominated by Stokes flow while in the far field a non-axisymmetric cubical conical structure (a viscously modified Taylor column) is found. This far field induces a Coriolis modification in the near field leading to Coriolis corrections to the Stokes drag law. The Coriolis modification of the predicted molecular weight (if the particle were a molecule) of a small particle is calculated. The analysis is applied to an unbounded fluid as well as to a fluid bounded between parallel plates oriented normal to the rotation vector. In the latter case the governing equations for the rotating fluid are posed as a self-adjoint system of partial differential equations and solved using (symmetric) Green's matrices.
ISSN:0022-1120
1469-7645
DOI:10.1017/S0022112075000778