Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2007
A computational investigation, supported by a theoretical analysis, is performed to investigate a pressure-driven flow around a line of equispaced spheres moving at a prescribed velocity along the axis of a circular tube. This fundamental study underpins a range of applications including physiological circulation research. A spectral-element formulation in cylindrical coordinates is employed to solve for the incompressible fluid flow past the spheres, and the flows are computed in the reference frame of the translating spheres.
Both the volume flow rate relative to the spheres and the forces acting on each sphere are computed for specific sphere-to-tube diameter ratios and sphere spacing ratios. Conditions at which zero axial force on the spheres are identified, and a region of unsteady flow is detected at higher Reynolds numbers (based on tube diameter and sphere velocity). A regular perturbation analysis and the reciprocal theorem are employed to predict flow rate and drag coefficient trends at low Reynolds numbers. Importantly, the zero drag condition is well-described by theory, and states that at this condition, the sphere velocity is proportional to the applied pressure gradient. This result was verified for a range of spacing and diameter ratios. Theoretical approximations agree with computational results for Reynolds numbers up to O(100).
The geometry dependence of the zero axial force condition is examined, and for a particular choice of the applied dimensionless pressure gradient, it is found that this condition occurs at increasing Reynolds numbers with increasing diameter ratio, and decreasing Reynolds number with increasing sphere spacing.
Three-dimensional simulations and predictions of a Floquet linear stability analysis independently elucidate the bifurcation scenario with increasing Reynolds number for a specific diameter ratio and sphere spacing. The steady axisymmetric flow first experiences a small region of time-dependent non-axisymmetric instability, before undergoing a regular bifurcation to a steady non-axisymmetric state with azimuthal symmetry m = 1. Landau modelling verifies that both the regular non-axisymmetric mode and the axisymmetric Hopf transition occur through a supercritical (non-hysteretic) bifurcation.