Stress-free image of a normal Stokeslet (source code)

= Stress-free image of a normal Stokeslet

Place a normal <Stokeslet> below a plane and an equal, oppositely directed image at the reflected point above it. The normal velocity of their sum is odd across the plane and the tangential velocity is even. The plane therefore has zero normal velocity and zero normal derivative of tangential velocity, giving zero tangential stress. For a sphere of radius $a$ translating towards that plane at speed $U$ from distance $d\gg a$, the leading radial surface flow is $3aUrd/[2(r^2+d^2)^{3/2}]$, directed outward. The image's incident flow at the sphere changes its required force by relative order $a/d$, so the first correction to surface velocity at fixed $r/d$ is $O(U(a/d)^2)$; the isolated sphere's potential-dipole correction occurs only at third order.