Particles immersed in fluids are ubiquitous in nature and technology. Depending on the model, various effective equations may occur in the limit of many small particles. One of the most well-studied models are the incompressible Stokes equations with no slip bounday conditions. In this case, the individual drag forces of the particles give rise to a collective force leading to the Brinkman equations or Darcy's law. However, the same collective effect can also be observed for non-creeping flows such as the incompressible and even the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. In this talk we will discuss in which cases the local fluid flow around each particle can be well approximated by the incompressible Stokes equations such that the Stokes-Brinkman force prevails. The talk is based on joint work with Arianna Giunti, Jonas Jansen, Karina Kowalczyk, Sebastian Schwarzacher and Juan Velázquez.