Nordita Astrophysics Seminars

The Effect of Particle and Fluid Inertia on the Dynamics of Particles in Flows

by Prof. Bernhard Mehlig (Gothenburg University)

Europe/Stockholm
122:026

122:026

Description
The dynamics of a very small particle suspended in a fluid flow is simple: the centre-of-mass is advected by the fluid velocity, and the orientational dynamics is determined by the sequence of fluid-velocity gradients that the particle experiences. For larger particles inertial effects may become important. Particle inertia is relatively straightforward to treat and there has recently been substantial progress in understanding its effect upon the dynamics of particles in flows. The effect of fluid inertia, by contrast, is more difficult to describe. In this talk I will review what is known about the effect of fluid inertia upon the translational and orientational motion of particles in flows and describe new results concerning the role of fluid inertia upon the tumbling of a particle in a shear flow.