Numerical simulation of the motion of a ball falling in an incompressible viscous fluid

In this note, we discuss the application of a Lagrange multiplier based fic titious domain method to the numerical simulation of the motion of a ball f alling in an incompressible viscous fluid; the motion is due to the hydrody namical forces and gravity. The numerical results of the terminal velocity of a ball falling in a circular cylinder are in quantitative agreement with the experimental results for Reynolds numbers less than 35. (C) 1999 Acade mie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.