Particle stresslet tensor 2026-10-06
The symmetric first moment of the traction exerted by a rigid inclusion, with the surface normal pointing into the inclusion. Its contraction with the background rate-of-strain tensor is the strain-related contribution to extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion. A trace-free version is equivalent for an incompressible flow. This tensor is distinct from the axisymmetric force-dipole flow used as a far-field singularity.
For a Newtonian fluid, write , where is the rate-of-strain tensor. The Stokes equation without body force gives . Since the stress tensor is symmetric, its contraction with the antisymmetric part of the velocity gradient is zero. Thus
The divergence theorem proves the boundary-work identity
For an incompressible flow, , so is precisely the viscous dissipation.
Apply this identity to the particle-free volume and then to the fluid outside the added particle. On the rigid particle, the velocity has the form . Its contribution to the boundary work is , which vanishes because the particle is force-free and torque-free. The outer velocity is unchanged. Subtracting the two boundary-work identities therefore gives
To move this expression to the particle surface, apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to and in the punctured fluid domain. For completeness, its local proof is
On the outer boundary . Let be the particle-outward normal, opposite to the fluid-outward normal there. Integrating the preceding divergence identity gives
This expression includes the removal of the original fluid inside the particle; that removal must not be counted separately again.
For a sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow, is symmetric and trace free, and . Symmetry gives zero rigid translation and rotation. Put and . Use the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation printed on the paper, with the decaying harmonic potentials
Their harmonicity follows from and from being a trace-free second derivative of . Direct differentiation gives
At , the no-slip boundary condition requires . Matching the independent and terms fixes and . The disturbance velocity and pressure are consequently
The pressure follows from . The disturbance decays, the total velocity vanishes at the sphere, and the harmonic representation verifies the Stokes equation. The boundary traction has zero total force by odd symmetry, and zero total torque because is symmetric, confirming the assumed force-free and torque-free motion.
At the sphere , so the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion becomes . Contracting the supplied total stress tensor with cancels its terms proportional to , leaving . Thus
Using proves the single-sphere dissipation increase
One may perform the comparison in a large bounded vessel with prescribed straining velocity and then take its size to infinity; the given near-sphere approximation makes this limit compatible with the fixed-outer-velocity definition of .
The sphere number density is . Neglecting hydrodynamic interactions, the additional viscous dissipation per unit volume is . Adding the particle-free value gives
This is the Einstein viscosity formula for a dilute suspension, to first order in the particle volume fraction.
For a fixed fluid domain with prescribed velocity on its whole boundary, the Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow compares the actual incompressible Stokes flow with every admissible incompressible velocity field having the same boundary values. The trial fields need not themselves satisfy the momentum equation. With and constant dynamic viscosity , define the viscous dissipation
Assume no nonconservative body force, or absorb a conservative force into the pressure. Set , so and on the boundary. The Stokes stress tensor obeys . Because pressure has zero contraction with ,
Expanding the square proves
Equality requires , so is a rigid motion; the homogeneous boundary values force it to vanish. The theorem concerns fixed boundary velocities, not fixed applied forces or arbitrary comparisons between different fluid domains.
For the concentric-sphere motion, seek . Incompressibility is automatic. The choice gives a harmonic velocity: the linear term is harmonic, and each component of is a derivative of the harmonic function . The no-slip conditions , give
Thus the Rotational Stokes flow between concentric spheres is
It satisfies the Stokes equation with constant pressure, and the uniqueness implied by the theorem identifies it as the required flow.
In the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation, take and . Both potentials are harmonic and , so the representation gives . Also
and therefore , after choosing the arbitrary pressure constant.
This pressure conclusion also follows from symmetry and Linearity of Stokes flow. Pressure is a scalar linear in the axial vector , and isotropy leaves only a possible term proportional to . That is a pseudoscalar, forbidden by reflection symmetry of the concentric spherical domain. Hence the pressure perturbation vanishes. Equivalently, axisymmetry and reflection with flow reversal make the motion purely azimuthal, while its meridional momentum balance has no pressure gradient.
Let in the following stress calculation. The symmetric velocity gradient is
The full stress tensor, in the zero-pressure gauge, is therefore
For , the traction on a radial surface is . This completely specifies the stress field; with the polar axis along , its only nonzero spherical shear component is .
The fluid couple on the inner sphere is the integral of with the normal pointing from the solid into the fluid. Using ,
Hence the sustaining applied Torque in rotational Stokes flow between concentric spheres is
For , it approaches the isolated rotating sphere in Stokes flow result . For a narrow gap , it becomes : the divergent resistance is that of a thin Couette shear layer, with speed scale and gradient scale .
Now add the force-free, couple-free rigid particles and denote the resulting velocity by . Extend through each particle as its rigid translational and rotational velocity. No slip makes this extension continuous across every particle surface; it is incompressible and has zero rate-of-strain tensor inside each particle. It therefore gives an admissible trial velocity in the original particle-free annulus, with exactly the same sphere boundary velocities. Its full-annulus dissipation is the actual fluid dissipation , since the added interior integrals are zero. The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow consequently gives .
The boundary-work identity follows by integrating : dissipation equals the mechanical power supplied at all rigid boundaries. The outer sphere is stationary; the inner sphere has no translation, so any force needed to hold its centre does no work; and each added particle contributes zero power because its net force and couple are zero. Thus , while . Therefore
For and at least one particle of positive volume in the open annulus, the inequality is strict. Equality would make the extended velocity identical to the particle-free solution, yet that solution has nonzero strain on every open region away from the rotation axis and cannot be rigid throughout any particle interior. Hence the applied couple component along the imposed angular velocity increases. This is the fixed-velocity extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion argument; it does not assert an increase in every transverse torque component.
Let downward velocity be positive in this part, and let be the dense sphere's weight minus buoyancy. For the original centreline configuration, write its six-component translation-and-rotation velocity as , and its diagonal positive hydrodynamic resistance matrix as . Its single-sphere dissipation is
With only axial force and no torque, the original velocity is .
Now add the neutral sphere. In its actual Stokes flow, extend the velocity rigidly through the new sphere's interior. This extension is a valid incompressible trial field for the domain without that sphere, with exactly the dense sphere's actual six boundary velocities; its strain and dissipation inside the inserted ball are zero. The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow and extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion therefore give
The neutral sphere has zero net external force and torque, and the dense sphere has only the axial force . The dissipation equals total external power, so . Positivity gives , and the comparison yields without assuming that either sphere translates only vertically or that either angular velocity vanishes.
For a finite nonoverlapping placement, the first inequality is strict. Equality would make the extended field the old Stokes solution and thus make that solution rigid throughout the added ball. Analyticity and connectedness then force its strain to vanish throughout the original fluid domain; the stationary tube wall and quiescent far field would force the whole motion to vanish, contradicting . Hence the force-free inclusion reduces axial mobility of a centred settling sphere:
The difference tends to zero as the added sphere recedes infinitely far away. The lateral and rotational contributions are nonnegative in the resistance comparison, which is precisely why they cannot invalidate the bound.
For an incompressible flow, write the Newtonian fluid stress tensor as , where is the rate-of-strain tensor. The Stokes equation gives . Symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor therefore gives
Integrating and applying the divergence theorem expresses the viscous dissipation as boundary power:
At a moving rigid body, the surface velocity is . Its boundary-power contribution is , with the force and torque evaluated using the fluid's outward normal vector. Both resultants vanish for a force-free, torque-free inclusion. Thus the new viscous dissipation comes entirely from the unchanged outer boundary velocity. Subtracting the particle-free boundary power gives
Apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to and in the fluid outside the inclusion. On the outer boundary , so
Writing for the particle's outward normal vector gives the required extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion:
This subtraction already accounts for the fluid volume displaced by the inclusion; it is not just the integral of the disturbance's local viscous dissipation.
For the sphere, the ambient rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace free. The sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow has zero translational and rotational velocity: inversion symmetry eliminates its force, and symmetry of eliminates its torque. To derive the disturbance, put , and seek
The incompressible flow condition and Stokes equation reduce to
A decaying family satisfying these equations is , , . The no-slip boundary condition requires and , so and . Consequently
The total velocity is zero at , and the disturbance decays as . The pressure constant has been set to zero. These boundary and far-field conditions, together with Uniqueness of Stokes flow, establish the solution. There is no rotational background in a pure strain flow.
On the sphere . Contracting the supplied Newtonian fluid stress tensor with makes its two terms proportional to cancel, leaving . Hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion is
Here . Taking the large outer boundary limit only after using the fixed-boundary power identity avoids replacing that prescribed boundary by an uncontrolled boundary at infinity.
If denotes the number of spheres per unit volume, . Thus
Add this to the particle-free viscous dissipation density . Comparing with gives the Einstein viscosity formula for a dilute suspension:
to first order in . The hydrodynamic interactions neglected here contribute beyond that dilute order.
Let be the rate-of-strain tensor and the Newtonian fluid stress tensor. The viscous dissipation is . The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow compares the Stokes flow with every sufficiently regular incompressible flow in the same domain having the same prescribed boundary velocity, with no body force or with a conservative body force absorbed into the fluid pressure. A trial field need not satisfy the Stokes flow equations. Write it as , with and on the boundary. Integration by parts, the symmetry of the Newtonian fluid stress tensor, and give
Consequently the Stokes flow minimizes dissipation:
Equality requires a rigid body motion of , which the prescribed boundary eliminates. Extending the flow inside the inserted particle as its rigid body velocity produces an admissible comparison field with zero internal rate-of-strain tensor; hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion is nonnegative.
Here and below on points into the particle, so the traction represents force exerted by the particle on the fluid. Apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow in the fluid region to and the restriction of . The equal outer boundary velocities yield
The boundary-work formula for viscous dissipation therefore gives . The last integral is zero: is symmetric and divergence-free throughout the particle's original volume, so its total force and torque there vanish, and on is a rigid body velocity. This also allows the sign of this zero-work term to be reversed, giving exactly
With the particle's centre as origin, define , and the particle stresslet tensor . Contracting the linear background velocity with the traction gives
The background rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace-free; the trace of this unprojected particle stresslet tensor does not affect the contraction.
For the straight-rod resistance in a linear flow, write , , , and , . The slender-body force density becomes . The integrals of and are and , respectively, so
For a force-free, torque-free rod, and the perpendicular component of is . Axial spin is not determined by this leading, zero-thickness slender-body theory; it has no effect on . Put . The vector identity gives
The force-free straight-rod orientation equation combines the background rotation with the part of strain that turns the rod; removing preserves its unit length. A rigid body cannot undergo the axial extension or compression imposed by , so opposite axial forces resist that deformation. No leading slender-body force density is needed when , even though the rod may rotate. Its particle stresslet tensor and viscous dissipation are
In the simple shear flow, , and . Thus the rod excess dissipation in shear is
The maxima at correspond to strongest axial extension and compression. The zeros at correspond to zero axial strain: a rod aligned with the velocity or its gradient needs no leading force at that instant. For , with the continuous branch and . Reversing the shear flow reverses the traversal. Substitution gives
The tails make the total finite; the instantaneous zero at lies between two maxima.
Figure 1.
Rod excess dissipation versus orientation and time in simple shear
. Details.
For a dilute rod suspension, the added bulk stress is the number density times the orientation average of the particle stresslet tensor. In this ideal infinitely slender, non-interacting model, rods approach alignment with the shear flow and their excess viscous dissipation decays. A real finite-aspect-ratio rod continues to tumble; rotational diffusion and interactions also maintain a spread of orientations. One therefore expects increased effective viscosity, with alignment offering a mechanism for reduced excess viscosity at strong shear flow. This is a qualitative expectation, not a claim that a finite rod suspension has zero steady excess stress.