Stokes hydrodynamic resistance of nonspherical particles

A review is presented of the motion of an isolated, nonspherical particle of general shape settling at small Reynolds numbers through an unbounded quiescent fluid - with a view towards establishing whether or not all particles ultimately attain a unique, time-independent terminal state, independently of their initial orientation and state of motion. Effects of inhomogeneities in internal mass distribution are incorporated into the analysis. Differences are pointed out between gravity and centrifugal settling rates for nonspherical particles. These arise from the tendency of such particles to adopt preferential orientations in a centrifugal field of force owing to variations in field strength over the length of the particle. It is pointed out that Coriolis forces acting on both the fluid and particle in a centrifuge cause the particles to settle more slowly. Moreover, in the case of spherical particles, the particle path deviates from a purely radial trajectory. Effects of both translational and rotational Brownian motions on the mean settling velocities of submicron particles is discussed, again for generally-shaped particle. A detailed summary of the contents of this paper is provided at its conclusion.