Abstract
Here we report measurement of the drag on a 3 mm oscillating sphere in superfluid 4He in the temperature range 1.6 K to 2.1 K. A Nb-Ti superconducting solenoid is used to suspend a niobium sphere; meanwhile a similar superconducting quadrupole magnet centers and helps to stabilize the ball at one location in the flow channel. The niobium sphere is levitated by the superconducting magnetic suspension system; then the oscillation is obtained by dropping the ball from one equilibrium point to a lower equilibrium point via reducing the levitating magnetic field. The sphere’s oscillation is then recorded with a high-speed CCD camera. The velocity of the sphere is obtained by comparing the images captured and the distance the sphere has moved with time. Drag force is calculated through its relation to the maximum velocity decay rate. The sphere is contained within a closed end channel that allows measurements in liquid or gaseous helium and vacuum.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
R.J. Donnelly, Cryogenic fluid dynamics. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 11, 7783–7834 (1999)
H. Schlichting, Boundary Layer Theory, 7th ed. (McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math, New York, 1979)
F.M. White, Viscous Fluid Flow, 1st ed. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1991), p. 182
F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 4th ed. (McGraw-Hill College, New York, 1998), p. 457
S.W. Van Sciver, Helium Cryogenics, 1st ed. (Plenum, New York, 1986), p. 101
M.R. Smith, S.W. Van Sciver, Measurement of the pressure distribution and drag on a sphere in flowing helium I and helium II. Adv. Cryog. Eng. 43, 1473–1479 (1998)
W.F. Vinen, J.J. Niemela, Quantum turbulence. J. Low Temp. Phys. 128, 167–231 (2002)
M. Niemetz, W. Schoepe, Stability of laminar and turbulent flow of superfluid 4 He at mK temperatures around an oscillating microsphere. J. Low Temp. Phys. 135(5), 447–469 (2004)
R.A. Laing, H.E. Rorschach Jr., Hydrodynamic drag on spheres moving in liquid helium. Phys. Fluids 4, 564 (1961)
M.W. Dowley, D.R. Firth, A.C. Hollis Hallett, in Proc. 7th Int. Conf. on Low Temperature Physics (1961)
Steel Precision Balls Custom Applications, California. http://www.usball.com/balls/default.html
C. Dushkin , Magnetic field in a thick superconducting solenoid for dynamic levitation of objects. J. Appl. Phys. 91(12), 10212–10214 (2002)
A. Melling, Tracer particles and seeding for particle image velocimetry. Meas. Sci. Technol. 8(12), 1406–1416 (1997)
T. Zhang, D. Celik, S.W. Van Sciver, Tracer particles for application to PIV studies of liquid helium. J. Low Temp. Phys. 134(3), 985–1000 (2004). doi:10.1023/B:JOLT.0000013213.61721.51
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hemmati, A.M., Fuzier, S., Bosque, E. et al. Drag Measurement on an Oscillating Sphere in Helium II. J Low Temp Phys 156, 71–83 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-009-9890-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-009-9890-2