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Settling of nonuniform cylinders at intermediate Reynolds numbers
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This study investigated the settling behavior of non-uniform cylindrical particles at intermediate Reynolds numbers, providing new data on how particle shape and aspect ratio influence drag and settling velocity. The findings are relevant to predicting the transport and deposition of microplastic fibers in water.
For sedimenting nonspherical particles at finite Reynolds numbers, very small offsets in the center of mass (less than 0.05% of particle length) can dramatically alter settling behavior. Nonuniformity in mass distribution enhances lateral dispersion and alters overall settling velocity; small changes in particle orientation lead to the onset of wake features which can either stabilize or destabilize the particle's trajectory, bifurcating over a relatively narrow range of Reynolds number. These results carry implications for a variety of natural and engineered processes, such as the transport and settling of microplastics and/or multimaterial aggregates in the environment.
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A new shape-dependent drag model was developed to better predict the settling velocities of microplastic fibers in aquatic environments, which are poorly described by equations derived for spherical particles. The improved model accounts for fiber shape and orientation, enabling more accurate predictions of microplastic transport and depth distribution in lakes and oceans.
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A new shape-dependent drag model was developed to improve the accuracy of settling velocity predictions for microplastic fibers, addressing a major limitation of existing drag models that significantly underpredict fiber settling in aquatic environments.
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Researchers experimentally investigated the settling behaviour of curved, V-shaped, U-shaped, and S-shaped cylindrical rods at low Reynolds numbers to improve models of atmospheric microplastic fibre transport, conducting experiments with millimeter-scale metal rods spanning aspect ratios from 10 to 120. The study found that fibre geometry significantly affects settling trajectories and drag compared to simplified sphere or straight-cylinder approximations used in current atmospheric transport models.
Settling processes of cylindrical microplastics in quiescent water: A fully resolved numerical simulation study
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Using a lattice Boltzmann numerical model, this study simulated how cylindrical microplastic fibers sink through still water and identified a critical shape ratio (aspect ratio ~0.93–0.94) at which settling behavior shifts dramatically. Understanding how fiber shape governs sinking speed is key to predicting where MP fibers accumulate in aquatic environments and how long they remain suspended.
Settling velocity of irregularly shaped microplastics under steady and dynamic flow conditions
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The settling velocities of irregularly shaped microplastics were measured under both still water and dynamic flow conditions, finding that shape strongly affected settling speed and that turbulence caused non-spherical particles to orient and settle differently than spheres, with implications for predicting microplastic vertical transport in rivers and coastal waters.
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