On a Paradox in the Motion of a Rigid Particle along a Wall in a Fluid

The results of an experimental investigation of spherical particles with different surface roughnesses rolling under their own weight down an inclined pipe wall in a Newtonian fluid at low Reynolds numbers, both with (friction should be taken into account) and without contact with the wall, are presented. It is shown that a fixed particle moves differently in different fluids with similar viscosities and densities. This fact, as well as the possibility of particle motion without contact with the wall, cannot be explained within the framework of the usual hydrodynamic theories. An example is the dependence of the particle motion on the static pressure.