Rigid ring-shaped particles that align in simple shear flow

Most rigid, torque-free, low-Reynolds-number, axisymmetric particles undergo a time-periodic tumbling motion in a simple shear flow, with their axes of symmetry following a set of closed Jeffery orbits. We have identified a class of rigid, ring-like particles whose axes of symmetry instead reach a permanent alignment near the velocity gradient direction with the plane of the particle aligning near the flow-vorticity plane. An asymptotic analysis for small particle aspect ratio (ratio of length parallel to the axis of symmetry to diameter perpendicular to the axis) shows that an appropriate asymmetry of the ring cross-section with a thinner outer edge and thicker inner edge leads to a tendency to rotate in a direction opposite to the vorticity; this tendency can balance the usual rotation rate associated with the finite thickness of the particle. Boundary integral computations for finite particle aspect ratios are used to determine the conditions of aspect ratio and degree of asymmetry that lead to the aligning behaviour and the final orientation of the axis of symmetry of the aligned particles. The aligning particle follows an equation of motion similar to the Leslie-Erickson equation for the director of a small-molecule nematic liquid crystal. However, whereas the alignment of the director arises from intermolecular interactions, the ring-like particle aligns solely due to its intrinsic rotational motion in a low-Reynolds-number flow.