Stokes flow for the axisymmetric motion of several spherical particles perpendicular to a plane wall

The creeping flow around several spherical particles moving on a line perpendicular to a plane wall is calculated numerically using the boundary integral method. The locations of the point forces on the surfaces of the spheres are chosen so as to describe precisely the lubrication regions when the surfaces are close to one another. Earlier results are recovered for the cases of a single sphere and a wall and of two equal spheres far from a wall. New results are presented for two (equal or unequal) spheres close to a plane wall and several equal spheres far from a wall.