Numerical simulation of the sedimentation of a tripole-like body in an incompressible viscous fluid

In this note, we discuss the application of a methodology combining distributed Lagrange multiplier based fictitious domain techniques, finite-element approximations and operator splitting, to the numerical simulation of the motion of a tripole-like rigid body falling in a Newtonian incompressible viscous fluid. The motion of the body is driven by the hydrodynamical forces and gravity. The numerical simulation shows that the distribution of mass of this rigid body and added moment of inertia compared to a simple cylinder (circular or elliptic) plays a significant role on the particle-fluid interaction. Apparently, for the parameters examined, the action of the moving rigid body on the fluid is stronger than the hydrodynamic forces acting on the rigid body. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.