TITLE:
Flow past a Sphere
AUTHORS:
Kern E. Kenyon
KEYWORDS:
Flow past a Sphere
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.11 No.3,
March
27,
2019
ABSTRACT: A new theoretical framework is applied to the steady
fluid flow past a solid smooth sphere. Bernoulli’s law along a streamline is
combined with the cross-stream force balance: centrifugal force on the curved
flow equals a pressure gradient. When compared with the standard potential
theory for flow past a sphere in a text book, the prospect of a major discrepancy is found. Whereas the
decay rate of the velocity perturbation away from the sphere goes as the
inverse cube of the distance in the text book, the decay rate computed here is
in all likelihood very different, and it depends on an unknown constant
function, the radius of curvature of the streamlines versus distance from the
sphere. When that function is supplied either from another theory or from
detailed observations (probably streak photographs), then the new approach can
be solved completely. In any case, accurate measurements of flow rates at
different positions with respect to the solid are badly needed.