On the flow past a sphere at low Reynolds number

Abstract

The flow of an incompressible, viscous fluid past a sphere is considered for small values of the Reynolds number. In particular the drag is found to be given by \[ D = D_s\{1+{\textstyle\frac{3}{8}}R+{\textstyle\frac{9}{40}}R^2(\log R+\gamma + {\textstyle\frac{5}{3}}\log 2 - {\textstyle\frac{323}{360}})+{\textstyle\frac{27}{80}}R^3\log R+O(R^3)\}, \] where Ds is the Stokes drag, R is the Reynolds number and γ is Euler's constant.