Sedimentation and Orientation of Slender Particles in a Laminar Flow

The motions of high aspect ratio particles settling in fluid flow are of importance in a range of scientific fields, including atmospheric science and biological fluid dynamics. In the past, calculations for the orientation and sedimentation velocities of long slender particles were conducted in the Stokes flow limit, valid only in the absence of fluid inertia. This thesis work presents series of experiments designed to extend the theory for the sedimentation of high aspect ratio particles to the finite Reynolds number regime. Additionally, experiments are presented which examine the effect of particle asymmetry on the inertial torques on the sedimenting bodies. Of particular interest in the case of the asymmetric particles is the discontinuity in the transition from a horizontal to vertical sedimentation orientation as the particle asymmetry increases. Each experiment that I conducted was designed to accompany theoretical developments by collaborators at Cornell. In addition to experimental work, this thesis presents a review of the mathematics and theoretical development of slender body theory, including recent work completed by collaborators in the the Cornell department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

    Item Description
    Name(s)
    Thesis advisor: Voth, Greg
    Date
    April 15, 2016
    Extent
    58 pages
    Language
    eng
    Genre
    Physical Form
    electronic
    Discipline
    Rights and Use
    In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
    Restrictions on Use

    Access limited to Wesleyan Community only. Please contact wesscholar@wesleyan.edu for more information.

    Digital Collection
    PID
    ir:2053