Abstract
The quasi-steady translational motion of an incompressible couple stress fluid confined between two eccentric spherical surfaces is investigated. It is assumed that the motion is generated by allowing the internal sphere to translate with a constant velocity. The Stokesian assumption of low Reynolds numbers is considered so that the nonlinear terms of the equation of motion are neglected. The superposition principle is employed to construct the general solution of the governing equations in the presence of spherical surfaces using two spherical systems of coordinates relative to the centers of the two spherical surfaces. The no-slip boundary conditions on the spherical boundaries are applied. In addition, the conditions of vanishing couple stresses on the bounding surfaces are imposed. The boundary collocation technique is utilized numerically to satisfy the boundary conditions on the spherical surfaces. The drag force experienced by the fluid flow on the spherical particle is obtained and represented numerically through table and graphs. The numerical results show that the values of the drag force increases monotonically with the increase in the radii ratio. It increases also with the increase of the couple stress viscosity parameter. The obtained results are consistence with the results available in the literature for viscous fluids.
•The interaction problem of a couple stress fluid between two eccentric spherical boundaries is studied.•The motion is generated by allowing the internal sphere to move translationally.•A semi-analytical procedure based on the superposition principle together with the boundary collocation method is used.•The drag force increases with the increase in the couple stress viscosity parameter.•The existence of the spherical cavity increases the values of the drag force considerably.