Retention and entrainment effects: Experiments and theory for porous spheres settling in sharply stratified fluids

We present an experimental study of single porous spheres settling in a near two-layer ambient density fluid. Data are compared with a first-principle model based on diffusive processes. The model correctly predicts accelerations of the sphere but does not capture the retention time at the density transition quantitatively. Entrainment of lighter fluid through a shell encapsulating the sphere is included in this model empirically. With this parametrization, which exhibits a power law dependence on Reynolds numbers, retention times are accurately captured. Extrapolating from our experimental data, model predictions are presented.