Abstract
Experiments were conducted with three-dimensional printed disks and rods to study the orientation dynamics of nonspherical particles under surface gravity waves. Trials were run with both neutrally buoyant and slightly negatively buoyant particles, which were large enough that inertia due to their finite size was important. Although the particles had a broad distribution of initial orientations, over time the waves were observed to focus these orientations toward a preferred angle that agreed with theory. Negatively buoyant particles additionally exhibited a tendency to adopt an orientation that maximized vertical drag. The overall orientation can be described as the result of a competition between the orientation favored by waves and the orientation favored by settling. The spread about the mean orientation was also observed to increase with wave strength. Finally, the stabilization of out-of-plane orientations of disk-shaped particles was observed due to their finite size.
5 More- Received 28 September 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.034301
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