CE616: Assignment 03

Due Date: Friday, 12 September 2014

1. The Stokes Law (Cd = 24/Re) is valid for Re 0.1. Estimate the maximum size of a spherical
quartz particle for which the Stokes Law will hold. What will be the corresponding settling
velocity. Make necessary assumptions and state them.
2. Using the Cd vs Re relationship given in the class, plot the rescaled relationship, Cd vs Re, for
0.1 Re = V d/ < 104 , where Cd FD /(V d), is fluid density, is dynamic viscosity, V is
the velocity of approach flow, and d is the diameter of the sphere. Is there a simple asymptotic
behavior as Re 0, and Re becomes large? If so, what is it?
3. The Dietrich equation relating w to d for a perfect sphere is based on observations of settling
spheres, whereas the equation for Cd as a function of Re is mostly based on flow past a stationary
sphere. Hence, the two equations may not necessarily give the same results.
a. Investigate this by using the formula for Cd as a function of Re to develop a curve for w
as a function of d over a range of d values from 1 to 300. Plot this curve on the same
figure as the Dietrich curve on log-log coordinates.
b. Evaluate the percentage difference between w obtained from the Cd vs Re relationship
and w obtained from Dietrich equation, and plot this as a function of d on a semilog
coordinates (with d on the log axis).
c. If we are dealing with quartz sphere settling in water at 15 C, what range of nominal
diameter in mm would the range of d from 1 to 300 cover?