The rotation of a sedimenting anisotropic particle in a linearly stratified ambient

TL;DR

This paper derives the torque on a sedimenting anisotropic particle in a stratified fluid, revealing how inertial, buoyancy, and hydrodynamic effects influence its orientation, with results matching experimental data.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of spheroid sedimentation in stratified fluids, including new torque contributions and orientation regimes based on dimensionless parameters.

Findings

Torque contributions depend on Re, Ri_v, and Pe.

Spheroid orientation transitions between broadside-on and edgewise.

Predicted orientation regimes align with experimental observations.

Abstract

We derive the torque on a spheroid of an arbitrary aspect ratio $\kappa$ sedimenting in a linearly stratified ambient. The analysis demarcates regions in parameter space corresponding to broadside-on and edgewise (longside-on) settling in the limit $Re, Ri_v \ll 1$, where $Re = \rho_0UL/\mu$ and $Ri_v =\gamma L^3g/\mu U$, the Reynolds and viscous Richardson numbers, respectively, are dimensionless measures of the importance of inertial and buoyancy forces relative to viscous ones. Here, $L$ is the spheroid semi-major axis, $U$ an appropriate settling velocity scale, $\mu$ the fluid viscosity, and $\gamma\,(>0)$ the (constant)\,density gradient characterizing the stably stratified ambient, with $\rho_0$ being the fluid density taken to be a constant within the Boussinesq framework. A reciprocal theorem formulation identifies three contributions to the torque: (1) an $O(Re)$ inertial contribution that already exists in a homogeneous ambient, and orients the spheroid broadside-on; (2) an $O(Ri_v)$ hydrostatic contribution due to the ambient linear stratification that also orients the spheroid broadside-on; and (3) a hydrodynamic contribution arising from the perturbation of the ambient stratification by the spheroid whose nature depends on $Pe$; $Pe = UL/D$ being the Peclet number with $D$ the diffusivity of the stratifying agent. For $Pe \gg 1$, the hydrodynamic contribution is $O(Ri_v^{\frac{2}{3}}$) in the Stokes stratification regime characterized by $Re \ll Ri_v^{\frac{1}{3}}$, and orients the spheroid edgewise regardless of $\kappa$. The differing orientation dependencies of the inertial and large-$Pe$ hydrodynamic stratification torques imply that the broadside-on and edgewise settling regimes are separated by two distinct $\kappa$-dependent critical curves in the $Ri_v/Re^{\frac{3}{2}}-\kappa$ plane. The predictions are consistent with recent experimental observations.