Stokes flow with slip caused by the axisymmetric motion of a sphere bisected by a free surface bounding a semi-infinite micropolar fluid

Abstract

The first part of this paper investigates the motion of a solid spherical particle in an incompressible axisymmetric micropolar Stokes flow. A linear slip, Basset-type, boundary condition has been used. Expressions for the drag force and terminal velocity has been obtained in terms of the parameter characterizing the slip friction. In the second part, we consider the flow of an incompressible axisymmetrical steady semi-infinite micropolar fluid arising from the motion of a sphere bisected by a free surface bounding a semi-infinite micropolar fluid. Two cases are considered for the motion of the sphere: perpendicular translation to the free surface and rotation about a diameter which is also perpendicular to the free surface. The speed of the translational motion and the angular speed for the rotational motion of the sphere are assumed to be small so that the nonlinear terms in the equations of motion can be neglected under the usual Stokesian approximation. Also a linear slip, Basset-type, has been used. The analytical expressions for velocity and microrotation components are determined in terms of modified Bessel functions of second kind and Legendre polynomials. The drag for the translation case and the couple for the rotational motion on the submerged half sphere are calculated and expressed in terms of nondimensional coefficients whose variation is studied numerically. The variations of the drag and couple coefficients with respect to the micropolarity parameter and slip parameter are tabulated and displayed graphically.