Paper 1, Section I, B

Fluid Dynamics
Part IB, 2015

Consider a spherical bubble of radius aa in an inviscid fluid in the absence of gravity. The flow at infinity is at rest and the bubble undergoes translation with velocity U=U(t)x^\mathbf{U}=U(t) \hat{\mathbf{x}}. We assume that the flow is irrotational and derives from a potential given in spherical coordinates by

ϕ(r,θ)=U(t)a32r2cosθ,\phi(r, \theta)=U(t) \frac{a^{3}}{2 r^{2}} \cos \theta,

where θ\theta is measured with respect to x^\hat{\mathbf{x}}. Compute the force, F\mathbf{F}, acting on the bubble. Show that the formula for F\mathbf{F} can be interpreted as the acceleration force of a fraction α<1\alpha<1 of the fluid displaced by the bubble, and determine the value of α\alpha.