Electronic edition ISSN 1574-0579

On the low-Reynolds-number motion of a non-conducting particle in uniform electric and magnetic fields

A. Sellier

LadHyX. Ecole polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, FRANCE

Abstract
We present the formulation and the numerical implementation of a new boundary approach that permits us to compute the rigid-body motion of an arbitrarily-shaped, freely-suspended and non-conducting particle immersed in a liquid metal under the action of prescribed and uniform ambient electric and magnetic fields E and B. The paper describes the advocated numerical strategy and discusses preliminary benchmarks against the analytical solution obtained elsewhere for an ellipsoidal particle. The case of an insulating pear-shaped particle, which may experience both translation and rotation, is also briefly addressed. Tables 3, Figs 1, Refs 9.