The drag on a rising sphere along the axis in a short rotating cylinder of fluid: revisiting the data and theory

Abstract We revisit the problem of a solid sphere rising slowly in a rotating short container filled with a slightly viscous fluid, with emphasis on the drag force. The data of the classical experiments of Maxworthy (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 31, 1968, pp. 643–655) and recent experiments of Kozlov et al. (Fluids, vol. 8 (2), 2023, paper 49), and the available geostrophic and quasi-geostrophic theories, are subjected to a novel scrutiny by combined reprocessing and comparisons. The measured drag is, consistently, about 20 % lower than the geostrophic prediction (assuming that flow is dominated by the Ekman layers, while in the inviscid cores the Coriolis acceleration is supported by the pressure gradient). The major objective is the interpretation and improvement of the gap between data and predictions. We show that the data cover a small range of relevant parameters (in particular the Taylor number $T$ and the height ratio $H$ of cylinder to particle diameter) that precludes a thorough and reliable assessment of the theories. However, some useful insights and improvements can be derived. The hypothesis that the discrepancy between data and the geostrophic prediction is due to inertial effects (not sufficiently small Rossby number $Ro$ in the experiments) is dismissed. We show that the major reason for the discrepancy is the presence of relatively thick Stewartson layers about the cylinder (Taylor column) attached to the sphere. The $1/3$ layer displaces the boundary condition of the angular velocity ($\omega = 0$) outside the radius of the particle. This observation suggests a semi-empirical correction to the theoretical quasi-geostrophic predictions (which takes into account the Ekman layers and the $1/4$ Stewartson layers); the corrected drag is in fair agreement with the data. We demonstrate that the inertial terms are negligible for $Ro\,T^{1/2} <0.4$. We consider curve-fit approximations, and point out some persistent gaps of knowledge that require further experiments and simulations.