Basic Concepts of Stokes Flows

Abstract

Various properties essential to the understanding of Stokes flow are discussed, including reversibility, negligibility of inertial forces and minimum energy dissipation theorem. Illustrative examples related to these properties are provided: inertial terms for the fluid flow generated by a rotating cylinder, force on a rotating cylinder close to a solid plane wall, Stokes paradox, energy dissipation for particles of different shapes. The meaning and the limits of the Stokes approximation are discussed in the context of more general equations.