THIS PROJECT EXPLORES A MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF A MICROGRAVITYPROCESS INVOLVING MIXED CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER, NAMELY, THE TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF FLUID PAST A SPHERE SUBJECT TO A THERMAL GRADIENT.

THIS PROJECT EXPLORES A MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF A MICROGRAVITYPROCESS INVOLVING MIXED CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER, NAMELY, THE TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF FLUID PAST A SPHERE SUBJECT TO A THERMAL GRADIENT. RESULTS OF THIS STUDY PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE BASIC FLUID MECHANICS INVOLVED IN SUCH PROCESSES AND ESTABLISH A FOUNDATION FOR EXTENDING THE ANALYSIS TO INCLUDE MASS TRANSFER BY DIFFUSION AND THE ASSOCIATED BUOYANCY EFFECTS. THE FLUID MECHANICS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER PROCESSES IN GRAVITY ARE EXPLORED BY CONSIDERING THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF THE IMPULSIVELY STARTED UNIFORM FLOW PAST A HEATED SPHERE. BOTH THE AIDING AND OPPOSING CASES, WHEREIN BUOYANCY FORCES ARE PARALLEL AND ANTI- PARALLEL, RESPECTIVELY, TO THE MEAN FLOW ARE CONSIDERED BY MEANS OF THE TECHNIQUES OF MATCHED ASYMPTOTIC EXPANSIONS. FORMULAS AND GRAPHS ARE PREPARED DESCRIBING THE SHEAR STRESSAND HEAT TRANSFER FROM THE SPHERE FOR A WIDE RANGE OF THE GOVERNING PARAMETERS.