Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-8r8nv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-10T21:04:37.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of inertia on the time period of rotation of an anisotropic particle insimple shear flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2017

Navaneeth K. Marath
Affiliation:
Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560 064, India
Ganesh Subramanian*
Affiliation:
Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, 560 064, India
*
†Email address for correspondence: sganesh@jncasr.ac.in

Abstract

We calculate the leading-order correction to the time period of rotation of a neutrally buoyant spheroid of arbitrary aspect ratio, in a simple shear flow ( $\boldsymbol{u}^{\infty }=\dot{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}}y\mathbf{1}_{1}$ ; $\mathbf{1}_{1}$ is the unit vector in the flow direction, $y$ being the coordinate along the gradient direction), in its long-time orbit set up by the weak fluid inertial drift at $O(Re)$ . Here, $Re$ is the microscale Reynolds number, a dimensionless measure of the fluid inertial effects on the length scale of the spheroid, and is defined as $Re=\dot{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}}L^{2}\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ , where $L$ is the semimajor axis of the spheroid, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}$ are respectively the viscosity and density of the fluid, and $\dot{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}}$ is the shear rate. This long-time orbit is the tumbling orbit for prolate spheroids; for oblate spheroids, it is the spinning orbit for aspect ratios greater than $0.137$ , and can be either the tumbling or the spinning orbit for oblate spheroids of aspect ratios less than $0.137$ . We also calculate the leading-order correction to the time period of rotation of a neutrally buoyant triaxial ellipsoid in a simple shear flow, rotating with its intermediate principal axis aligned along the vorticity of the flow; the latter calculation is in light of recent evidence, by way of numerical simulations (Rosen, PhD dissertation, 2016, Stockholm), of the aforementioned rotation being stabilized by weak inertia. The correction to the time period for arbitrary $Re$ is expressed as a volume integral using a generalized reciprocal theorem formulation. For $Re\ll 1$ , it is shown that the correction at $O(Re)$ is zero for spheroids (with aspect ratios of order unity) as well as triaxial ellipsoids in their long-time orbits. The first correction to the time period therefore occurs at $O(Re^{3/2})$ , and has a singular origin, arising from fluid inertial effects in the outer region (distances from the spheroid or triaxial ellipsoid of the order of the inertial screening length of $O(LRe^{-1/2})$ ), where the leading-order Stokes approximation ceases to be valid. Since the correction comes from the effects of inertia in the far field, the rotating spheroid (triaxial ellipsoid) is approximated as a time-dependent point-force-dipole singularity, allowing for the reciprocal theorem integral to be evaluated in Fourier space. It is shown for all relevant cases that fluid inertia at $O(Re^{3/2})$ leads to an increase in the time period of rotation compared with that in the Stokes limit, consistent with the results of recent numerical simulations at finite $Re$ . Finally, combination of the $O(Re^{3/2})$ correction derived here with the $O(Re)$ correction derived earlier by Dabade et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 791, 2016, 631703) yields a uniformly valid description of the first effects of inertia for spheroids of all aspect ratios, including prediction of the arrest of rotation for extreme-aspect-ratio spheroids.

Information

Type
Papers
Copyright
© 2017 Cambridge University Press 
Figure 0

Figure 1. (a) The orientation vector (red) defined by the angles $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{j}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{j}$ in the space-fixed coordinate system $XYZ$. The $X$, $Y$ and $Z$ axes correspond to the flow, the gradient and the vorticity directions of the simple shear flow. (b) Jeffery orbits (blue) for an oblate spheroid of aspect ratio 0.05 for different initial conditions. The limiting orbits, that is the tumbling and spinning modes, are indicated. (c) The repeller (red) for an oblate spheroid of aspect ratio 0.05, which divides the unit hemisphere into two distinct basins of attractions. The trajectories of the spheroid due to fluid inertial drift at $O(Re)$, starting from either side of the repeller and ending at the attractors of the corresponding basins, are shown as purple and green curves. (d) Jeffery orbits (blue) for a prolate spheroid of aspect ratio 2. (e) The $O(Re)$ inertial trajectory (purple), which ends in the tumbling orbit, for the same prolate spheroid.

Figure 1

Figure 2. The red lines denote the wavefronts. Here, $\boldsymbol{k}$ is the wavevector which gets turned due to a simple shear flow of the form $\boldsymbol{u}^{\infty }(\boldsymbol{x})=x_{2}\mathbf{1}_{1}$. This is equivalent to a convection by a simple shear flow of the form $\hat{\boldsymbol{u}}^{\ast \infty }(\boldsymbol{k})=-k_{1}\mathbf{1}_{2}$ in the Fourier space.

Figure 2

Figure 3. (a) The $O(Re^{3/2})$ inertial correction plotted against the eccentricity ($e$) for a prolate spheroid in the tumbling orbit. The inset plot shows a zoomed view of $e<0.8$. (b) The $O(Re^{3/2})$ inertial correction scaled with the Jeffery period plotted as a function of the prolate spheroid eccentricity. (c) The inertial correction times $\log \unicode[STIX]{x1D705}$ is plotted on a log–log scale for large aspect ratios; the red line shown in the plot has a slope of unity.

Figure 3

Figure 4. (a) The $O(Re^{3/2})$ inertial correction plotted against the eccentricity for an oblate spheroid in the tumbling orbit. The blue points indicate the aspect ratios for which the tumbling orbit is unstable; the black points correspond to conditional stability (initial-orientation-dependent). The inset plot shows the zoomed view for $e<0.8$. (b) The $O(Re^{3/2})$ inertial correction scaled with the Jeffery period plotted as a function of the oblate spheroid eccentricity. (c) The inertial correction is plotted on a log–log scale for small aspect ratios. The red line is the asymptote given in (5.59).

Figure 4

Figure 5. The $O(Re^{3/2})$ inertial correction is plotted against the eccentricity for an oblate spheroid in the spinning orbit.

Figure 5

Figure 6. The orbits stabilized by inertia from earlier analysis for general triaxial ellipsoids are indicated in the figure. The filled black circle corresponds to the ellipsoid for which the numerical simulation by Rosen (2016) has shown that the rotation about the intermediate axis is stable. The orbits stabilized for prolate and oblate spheroids are indicated (Dabade et al.2016). For the ellipsoids indicated by crosses, we assume that the inertia stabilizes the rotation about the intermediate axis.

Figure 6

Figure 7. The ratio $\unicode[STIX]{x0394}T_{corrE}/T_{jeff}$ plotted against $1/\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}_{2}$ in a log–log scale. The red line has a slope of 0.87.

Figure 7

Table 1. Inertial time periods for torque-free triaxial ellipsoids in simple shear flow.