On the variable order dynamics of the nonlinear wake caused by a sedimenting particle

In this work we develop a variable order (VU) differential equation of motion for a spherical particle sedimenting in a quiescent viscous liquid. In particular, we examine the various force terms in the equation of motion and propose a new form for the history drag acting on the particle. We show that the variable order formulation allows for an effective way to express the dynamic transition of the dominant forces over the entire time of the motion of the particle from rest to terminal velocity. The use of VU operators also allows us to examine the evolving dynamics of the wake during sedimentation. Using numerical data from a finite element simulation of a sedimenting particle, we first solve for the order of the derivative that returns the correct decay of the history force. We then propose a relatively simple expression for the history force that is a function of the Reynolds number and particle-to-fluid density ratio. The new history drag expression correlates very well (R(2) > 0.99) with the numerical data for terminal Reynolds numbers ranging from 2.5 to 20, and for particle-to-fluid density ratios of interest in practice (1 < beta < 10). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.