Slow motions of a solid spherical particle close to a viscous interface

In order to investigate the hydrodynamic interaction between an interface and a spherical particle and its dependence on the type of interface, it is essential to compute the drag and torque exerted on the sphere in the vicinity of the interface. In this paper, the problem of all slow elementary motions (relative translation and rotation) and stationary movement of a spherical particle next to a solid, viscous or free interface is considered. For low capillary numbers and different values of surface dilatational and shear viscosities in a curvilinear co-ordinate system of revolution with bicylindrical co-ordinates in meridian planes, the problem reduces from three to two dimensions. The model equations and boundary conditions, which contain second-order derivatives of the velocities, transform to an equivalent well-defined system of second-order partial differential equations which is solved numerically for medium and small values of the dimensionless distance to the interface. Very good agreement with the asymptotic equation for a translating sphere close to a solid interface could be achieved. The numerical results reveal in all cases the strong influence of the surface viscosity on the motion of the solid sphere. For small distances from the interface, the drag and torque coefficients change significantly depending on the surface viscosity.