On the Torsional Oscillations of a Solid Sphere in a Viscous Fluid

Abstract

Abstract Most treatments of the torsional oscillations of solid bodies assume that the velocity field is circumferential. In this paper the motion in planes containing the axis of oscillation is also considered. An expansion in terms of the angular displacement ϵ (assumed small) is made. The first approximation to the circumferential velocity is computed, and then used in computing the first approximation to the pumping motion. This is used to compute the correction to the circumferential velocity and, in particular, the correction to the viscous torque. For the range of parameters considered it is found that the correction to the torque is of the order of 0.04ϵ2|N0|, where N0 is the classical viscous torque. This problem is of interest in practical viscosity measurements.