Numerical simulation and modeling of the hydrodynamic forces and torque acting on individual oblate spheroids

Abstract

Computation of a three-dimensional uniform, steady Newtonian flow past oblate spheroidal particles is undertaken. The main objective of the present study is to compute the hydrodynamic forces on oblate spheroidal particles as a function of the particle orientation, for different particle aspect ratios and a large range of particle Reynolds number. The results of the simulations are used to provide a new complete set of correlations for drag, lift, and torque coefficients. These correlations are derived for an aspect ratio ranging from 0.2 to 1, for particle Reynolds number up to 100, and for all orientations. In addition, it is found that the Stokesian evolution of the drag and lift coefficients as a function of the incidence remains still valid at moderate particle Reynolds number; that is, drag coefficient evolves as sine squared and lift coefficient evolves as (sin φ cos φ).