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:
𝑑𝜔 𝐶𝐷 𝜋 𝐷2 𝑑𝜔
𝑚𝑠 = (𝑚𝑠 − 𝑚)𝑔 − 𝜌 𝜔2 ( ) − 𝐶𝐴0 𝑚 −
𝑑𝑡 2 4 𝑑𝑡
1 (1)
2 𝑡 𝑑𝜔 𝑑𝜏
𝐶𝐵 𝐷 (𝜋𝜌𝜇 ) 2 ∫0 𝑑𝜏 (𝑡−𝜏)1/2

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. 𝑚𝑠 is the spherical particle mass, 𝑤 is the fall velocity, 𝑡
is the time, 𝑚 is the mass of fluid for the same volume of spherical
particle, 𝑔 is the gravitational acceleration, 𝜌 is the fluid density, 𝐷 is
the diameter of spherical particle, 𝐶𝐷 is the drag coefficient, 𝐶𝐴0 is the
classic added mass coefficient, 𝐶𝐵 is the classic Basset force coefficient,
𝐶𝐵 = 3/2, 𝜇is the dynamic viscosity of fluid, and 𝜏is 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, 𝑤0 = 0, 𝑤𝑇 = 83
𝑤𝑇 𝐷
cm/s, and the terminal Reynolds number 𝑅𝑇 = = 2440. Moorman’s
𝜈
(1955) tests were conducted in an oil tank with D = 12.7 mm, 𝜌𝑆 = 7780
𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔 -5 𝑚2
𝑚 3 , 𝜌= 876 𝑚 3 , 𝜈= 3.54 × 10 𝑠
, 𝑤0 = 0, 𝑤𝑇 = 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−𝑡0
(2𝑐−𝑏𝜔0 )+𝑘𝜔0 coth(𝑘 )
2
𝜔= 𝑡−𝑡 (2)
(𝑏+2𝑎𝜔0 )+𝑘 coth(𝑘 0 )
2

1 (𝑘−𝑏−2𝑎𝜔0 )𝑒 −𝑘(𝑡−𝑡0 ) +(𝑘+𝑏+2𝑎𝜔0 ) (𝑘−𝑏)(𝑡−𝑡0 )

𝑠 = ln + (3)
𝑎 2𝑘 2𝑎
3 1 3 𝜈 (Δ−1)𝑔
Where 𝑎 = 𝛼 ((∆+𝐶 )𝐷
), 𝑏 = 𝛽 ((∆+𝐶 )𝐷2
), 𝑐 = , 𝑘=
4 𝐴 4 𝐴 (Δ+ 𝐶𝐴 )
𝜌𝑠
√𝑏 2 + 4𝑎𝑐, Δ = 𝜌
, 𝑡0 is the initial time, and 𝜔0 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 reach the end of path and final velocity will be
𝑚
1.704631798 , and if it is oil, it takes 1540 s to reach the end of path
𝑠
𝑚
by velocity of 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.