Orientation instability of settling spheroids in a linearly density-stratified fluid

Abstract

Much work has been done to understand the settling dynamics of spherical particles in a homogeneous and stratified fluid. However, the effects of shape anisotropy on the settling dynamics of a particle in a stratified fluid are not completely understood. To this end, we perform numerical simulations for settling oblate and prolate spheroids in a stratified fluid. We present the results for the Galileo number, $Ga$ , in the range 80–250 and the Richardson number, $Ri$ , in the range 0–10. We find that both the oblate and prolate spheroids reorient to the edge-wise and partially edge-wise orientations, respectively, as they settle in a stratified fluid completely different from the steady-state broad-side on orientation observed in a homogeneous fluid. We observe that reorientation instabilities emerge when the velocity magnitudes of the spheroids fall below a particular threshold. We also report the enhancement of the drag on the particle from stratification. The torque due to buoyancy effects tries to orient the spheroid in an edge-wise orientation while the hydrodynamic torque tries to orient it to a broad-side on orientation. Below the velocity threshold, the buoyancy torque dominates; resulting in the onset of reorientation instability. Finally, the asymmetry in the distribution of the baroclinic vorticity generation term around the spheroids explains the onset of the reorientation instability.