Drag, lift, and torque on a prolate spheroid resting on a smooth surface in a linear shear flow

Abstract

Understanding the aerodynamic forces on particles resting on a surface is important for studies of surface contamination, non-contact sampling, and environmental and health assessments. Though the aerodynamic forces acting on a spherical particle are well studied, in many real-world applications, the particles are non-spherical, and there are currently no established relations for forces on non-spherical particles resting on a surface. We developed new relations for the aerodynamic forces on prolate-spheroidal particles attached to a surface in a linear shear flow using direct numerical simulations. The reduced-order model predicts drag, lift, and torque coefficients as a function of the particle aspect ratio, flow incidence angle, and Reynolds number. The predictive model agrees with the direct numerical simulations (DNS) results for the drag and lift coefficients within 0.3% and 3%, respectively.