Is sedimentation container-shape dependent?

Abstract

The question is addressed as to the dependence of sedimentation of a homogeneous suspension on the shape of the container. It is demonstrated, by comparing calculations for spherical and plane geometries, that shape-dependent contributions to the sedimentation velocity remain in the limit of infinitely distant container walls. Upon transformation from the laboratory reference frame to a local frame of reference that moves with the average volume velocity, this shape-dependence is found to disappear.