Falling Sphere Ball in Fluid Column

1. Kinetic Equation of an Acceleration Fall

In this report, it is aimed to investigate the falling velocity of steel ball
in determined fluid(such as water or oil).The terminal falling velocity
of a particle depends upon a rather large number of variables
including the size, shape, and density of particles, its orientation,
properties of the liquid medium (density, rheology), size and shape of
the fall vessels, and whether the liquid is stationary or moving.
The most basic study in this field is done by Basset (1888),
Boussinesq (1903) and Oseen (1927) and a classic theorical result is
derived from the unsteady Stockes equation and it is called BBO
equation:
1 t
dω C π D2 dω dω dτ
ms
dt
=( ms −m ) g− D ρ ω 2
2 ( )
4
−C A 0 m
dt
−C B D2 ( πρμ ) 2 ∫
0 dτ (t−τ )
1 /2
(1)

where the left-hand side of (1) is the inertia of a spherical particle.

The first, second, third, and fourth terms on the right-hand side are its
submerged weight, drag, added mass force, and Basset history force,
respectively. msis the spherical particle mass, w is the fall velocity, t is
the time, mis the mass of fluid for the same volume of spherical
particle, gis the gravitational acceleration, ρ is the fluid density, Dis
the diameter of spherical particle, C Dis the drag coefficient, C A 0is the
classic added mass coefficient, C Bis the classic Basset force
coefficient, C B= 3/2, μis the dynamic viscosity of fluid, and τ is the
dummy variable for integration. A detailed description of mentioned
parameters and calculation of fall time and distance are introduced by
Zegao Yin et.al (2017). More investigations are done by Harpreet
Kaur et.al (2018), Junke Guo (2011).
Some analytic solutions have been obtained for Basset's equation
(Boggio 1907; Basset 1910; Brush et al. 1964; Hjelmfelt and Mockros
1967).

2. Validation by Experimental Data

 two data sets of a spherical particle acceleration falling through still
fluid from Allen (1900) and Moorman (1955) were used. Allen (1900)
measured a steel sphere falling in a rectangular water tank; its depth,
length, and width were 28 cm, 11.5 cm, and 3 cm, respectively. The
water temperature was 17.8∘C, Δ = 7.82, D= 3.18 mm, w 0= 0, w T = 83
wT D
cm/s, and the terminal Reynolds number RT =
ν
= 2440. Moorman’s
(1955) tests were conducted in an oil tank with D = 12.7 mm, ρ S=
kg kg 2
7780 m3
, ρ= 876 m3
, ν= 3.54 × 10-5 ms , w 0= 0, w T = 174.8 cm/s, and RT =

627.
3. Investigation of case study
3.1 Case Study Description
In this study, it is going to investigate the speed and fall time of steel
sphere ball in fluid column. Schematic of problem and its dimensions
are illustrated in following figure:

It is important to know that flow column could be oil or water.

3.2 Determination of Speed and Falling Time

In this case study, introduced equations by Zegao Yin et.al(2017) are
used. According to their study, distance (s) and velocity( ω) can be
determined by:
t−t 0
( 2 c−b ω 0 ) +k ω 0 coth(k )
2
ω=
t−t 0
(2)
( b+2 a ω 0 ) +k coth( k 2 )

( −k t −t 0
)
1 ( k−b−2 a ω 0 ) e +(k +b+ 2 a ω0 ) (k−b)(t−t 0 )
s= ln + (3)
a 2k 2a
3 1 3 ν ( Δ−1) g ρs
Where a= α( ), b= β ( 2 , c=
) , k = √ b2
+4 ac , Δ= , t0
4 ( ∆+C A ) D 4 ( ∆+C A ) D ( Δ+C A ) ρ
is the initial time, and ω 0 is the initial velocity. The value of initial
velocity is zero. After performing the required calculations, it is
concluded that if flow column contains water, it takes about 1467 s to
m
reach the end of path and final velocity will be 1.7046 31798
s, and if it
is oil, it takes 1540 s to reach the end of path by velocity of
m
1. 623637236 .
s

4. References
Basset, A. B. (1888). A treatise on hydrodynamics, Vol. 2, Chap. 22.
Deighton Bell, Cambridge, England (Republished: Dover
Publications, New York, 1961).
Boussinesq, V. (1903). Theorie analytique de la chaleur. Vol. 2,
GauthierVillars, Paris, France (in French).
Oseen, C. W (1927). Hydrodynamik. Chap. 10, Akademische
Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig, Germany (in German).
Yin, Zegao, et al. "Initial velocity effect on acceleration fall of a
spherical particle through still fluid." Mathematical Problems in
Engineering 2017 (2017).
Boggio, T. (1907). "Integrazione dell' equazione funzionale che regge
la caduta di una sphera in un liquido viscoso." Rendiconti della Reale
Accademia dei Lincei, Italy, Vol. 16, Series 5, 613-620, 730-737 (in
Italian).
Basset, A. B. (1910). "On the descent of a sphere in a viscous liquid."
Quart. J. Math., 41, 369-381.
Brush, L. M., Ho, H. W, and Yen, B. C. (1964). "Accelerated motion
of a sphere in a viscous fluid." J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 90(1), 149-160.
Hjelmfelt, A. T., and Mockros, L. F. (1967). "Stokes flow behavior of
an accelerating sphere." J. Engr. Mech. Div., ASCE, 93(6),87-102.
H. Allen, “The motion of a sphere in a viscous fluid,” Philosophical
Magazine, vol. 50, no. 306, pp. 519–534, 1900.
R. W. Moorman, Motion of a spherical particle in the acceleration
portion of free fall [Ph.D. dissertation], University of Iowa, Iowa City,
Iowa, USA, 1955.
Kaur, Harpreet, B. P. Garg, and Neeraj Rani. "Effects of Density and
Size on Terminal Velocity of a Vertically Falling Spherical Particles
in Newtonian Fluid by Diagonal Pade’Approximant." International
Journal of Statics and Applied Mathematics 3.2 (2018): 621-634.
Guo, Junke. "Motion of spheres falling through fluids." Journal of
Hydraulic Research 49.1 (2011): 32-41.