Deformation of an Elastic Particle Suspended in an Arbitrary Flow Field

Abstract

The deformation of an elastic particle suspended in an arbitrary unbounded flow field is investigated theoretically. It is assumed that the particle is a homogeneous, isotropic elastic body obeying Hooke's law and the underformed particle is spherical in shape. It is further assumed that the motion of fluid obeys the Stokes equation. On the assumption that the deformation from a spherical shape is very small the equation of the surface of the deformed particle is obtained. As examples, simple shear flow, plane hyperbolic flow and Poiseuille flow are considered.