Transition and self-sustained turbulence in dilute suspensions of finite-size particles

We study the transition to turbulence of channel flow of finite-size particle suspensions at low volume fraction, i.e., φ ≈0.001. The critical Reynolds number above which turbulence is sustained reduces to Re ≈ 1675, in the presence of few particles, independently of the initial condition, a value lower than that of the corresponding single-phase flow, i.e., Re ≈1775. In the dilute suspension, the initial arrangement of the particles is important to trigger the transition at a fixed Reynolds number and particle volume fraction. As in single phase flows, streamwise elongated disturbances are initially induced in the flow. If particles can induce oblique disturbances with high enough energy within a certain time, the streaks breakdown, flow experiences the transition to turbulence and the particle trajectories become chaotic, Otherwise, the streaks decay in time and the particles immigrate towards the channel core in a laminar flow.

Novel Magnetorheological Suspensions Based on Co-Phthalocyanine/Fe Nanocomposite Particles

A novel magnetorheological (MR) suspension was based on methyl silicone oil and cobalt-phthalocyanine (Co-Pc)/Fe nanocomposite particles, which were synthesized by thermally decomposing liquid carbonyl Fe in the solution of Co-Pc in N, N-dimethyl formamide. The nanocomposite particles were fully characterized by XRD, SEM and HREM, and the thermal, magnetic and MR properties of nanocomposite particles were measured. Such factors as weight percent of particles (w), magnetic field strength (H), temperature (T) and shear rate (gamma) etc influencing on MR properties were investigated. The results indicated that Co-Pc/Fe nanocomposite with density of 3.66 g/cm(3) was almost micro-sized regular spheroids consisting of tens of Co-Pc coated alpha -Fe nanoparticles in inner and Co-Pc layers on surface of the spheroids. They showed good characteristics of anti-oxidation and soft magnetic. Increment of w increased field-induced shear stress (Delta tau) and zero-field viscosity (eta (0)) of MR suspensions monotonously, and improved anti-settlement stability, but eta (0) increased more markedly than Delta tau with increasing w. Delta tau was basically independent on T and gamma while increased obviously with increasing H. With increasing T, response time of the MR suspension to external magnetic field seemed to decrease. As a result, MR suspensions with satisfactory stability and rapid, completely reversible and significant MR effect can be obtained from Co-Pc/Fe nanocomposite particles.

Effects of particle fractions on the Bingham yield stress and viscosity of fine-coarse particle suspensions

The rheological behaviors of highly concentrated fine particle suspensions(clay-silt-water mixtures)and coarse particle suspensions(coarse particles within a fine particle suspension)were investigated in this study.Experimental results demonstrated that the Bingham Fluid Model with two rheological parameters,Bingham yield stressand viscosity,wellcharacterized the rheological behavior of fine particle suspensions at shear rates between 4 and 20 s^(-1).The inclusion of coarse particles within a fine particle suspension induced an enhancement to the rheological parameters.The rheological parameters of a coarse particle suspension not only depend on its total particle fraction but also on its relative fine/coarse particle fractions.Empirical equations of these two parameters were proposed,quantitatively related to both fine and coarse particle fractions.Results indicated that the Bingham yield stress and viscosity are much more(an order larger)sensitive to changes in fine particle fraction than to changes in coarse particle fraction.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF ORIENTATION DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION OF CYLINDRICAL PARTICLE SUSPENSIONS

The orientation distribution function of cylindrical particle suspensions was deduced and numerically simulated, and an application was taken in a wedge-shaped flow field. The relationship between the orientation distribution function and particle orientation angles was obtained. The results show that comparing with the most probable angle distribution which comes to being in short time, the distribution of the steady state doesn't vary much. in range; the main difference is the anti-clockwise rotation in the right and upper field, that is, particles rotate more at the points where the velocity gradients are larger. The most probable orientations are close to the direction of local streamlines. In the direction of streamlines, with poleradius decreasing, the most probable angles increase, but the angles between their orientations and the local streamlines decrease.

Determination of Particle Sizes and Crystalline Phases on Colloidal Silicon Nanoparticle Suspensions

Particle size and crystallinity of silicon nanoparticles were determined by analyzing the optical extinction spectra of colloidal suspensions. Experimental results from these colloids were anaiyzed using Mie theory in connection with effective medium theory, in order to determine particle sizes and their internal structure with the simple technique of optical transmission spectroscopy. By modeling an effective refractive index for the particles, the crystalline volume fraction can be extracted from extinction spectra in addition to information about the size. The crystalline volume fraction determined in this way were used to calibrate the ratio of the Raman cross sections for nanocrystalline and amorphous silicon, which was found to be σc./σa = 0.66

Characteristics of settling of dilute suspension of particles with different density at high Reynolds numbers

Dilute suspension of particles with same density and size develops clusters when settle at high Reynolds number(≥250).It is due to particles entrapment in the wakes produced by upstream particles.In this work,this phenomenon is studied for suspension having particles with different densities by numerical simulations.The particle-fluid interactions are modelled using immersed boundary method and inter-particle collisions are modelled using discrete element method.In simulations,settling Reynolds number is always kept above 250 and the suspension solid volume fraction is nearly 0.1 percent.Two particle density ratios(i.e.density of heavy particles to lighter particles)equal to 4:1 and 2:1 and particles with same density are studied.For each density ratio,the percentage volume fraction of each particle density is nearly varied from 0.8 to 0.2.Settling characteristics such as microstructures of settling particle,average settling velocity and velocity fluctuations of settling particles are studied.Simulations show that for different density particles settling characteristics of suspension is largely dominated by heavy particles.At the end of paper,the underlying physics is explained for the anomalies observed in simulation.

Lateral Migration and Nonuniform Rotation of Square Particle Suspended in Poiseuille Flow

A square particle suspended in a Poiseuille flow is investigated by using the lattice Boltzmann method with the Galilean-invariant momentum exchange method. The lateral migration of Segré-Silberberg effect is observed for the square particle, accompanied by the nonuniform rotation and regular wave. To compare with the circular particle, its circumscribed and inscribed squares are used in the simulations. Because the circumscribed square takes up a greater difference between the upper and lower flow rates, it reaches the equilibrium position earlier than the inscribed one. The trajectories of the latter are much closer to those of circle;this indicates that the circle and its inscribed square have a similar hydrodynamic radius in a Poiseuille flow. The equilibrium positions of the square particles change with Reynolds number and show a shape of saddle, whereas those of the circular particles are virtually not affected by Reynolds number. The regular wave and nonuniform rotation are owing to the interactions of the square shape and the parabolic velocity distribution of Poiseuille flow, and high Reynolds number makes the square rotating faster and decrease its oscillating amplitude. A series of contours illustrate the dynamic flow fields when the square particle has successive postures in a half rotating period. This study is beneficial to understand the motion of anisotropic particles and the dendrite growth in dynamic environment.

Dynamic magnetic hysteresis in a liquid suspension of acicular maghemite particles

This paper presents theoretical and experimental studies on the magnetodynamics and energy absorption in a dilute suspension of small ferromagnetic particles with magnetic hysteresis and mechanical mobility in an AC magnetic field. Experiments with 0.1% suspensions of acicular particles of gamma ferric oxide in solid and liquid matrices, subjected to a 430 Hz magnetic field with an intensity of up to 1200 Oe, revealed important role of particle mobility. The main qualitative and quantitative features of the phenomenon are in agreement with a model of joint magneto-mechanical dynamics of particles with a chain-of-spheres mode of incoherent magnetic reversal.

DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF THE DYNAMICS OF PARTICLES WITH ARBITRARY SHAPES IN SHEAR FLOWS

A fluid-structure interaction method based on the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method and a dynamic mesh method was developed to simulate the dynamics of a rigid particle in shear flows.In the method,the governing equations for the fluid flow and particle motion were sequentially solved in a two-way coupling fashion.The mesh system was deformed or re-meshed by the dynamic mesh method.The method was employed to simulate the dynamics of a single particle suspended in a flow channel and the dynamics of the particle were studied.The simulation results show that the angular velocity is not only a function of the inclination angle,is but also influenced by the aspect ratio yielding a hysteresis,while the angular velocity obtained from the Keller-Scalak model is a function only of the inclination angle and does not show a hysteresis.The present simulations clearly demonstrate that the Fluid-Structure Interaction（FSI） module is very stable,accurate and robust.

CFD simulation of particle suspension in a stirred tank

Particle suspension characteristics are predicted computationally in a stirred tank driven by a Smith turbine. In order to verify the hydrodynamic model and numerical method, the predicted power number and flow pattern are compared with designed values and simulated results from the literature, respectively. The effects of particle density, particle diameter, liquid viscosity and initial solid loading on particle suspension behavior are investigated by using the Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model and the standard k-ε turbulence model. The results indicate that solid concentration distribution depends on the flow field in the stirred tank. Higher particle density or larger particle size results in less homogenous distribution of solid particles in the tank. Increasing initial solid loading has an adverse impact on the homogeneous suspension of solid particles in a low-viscosity liquid, whilst more uniform particle distribution is found in a high-viscosity liquid.

A LB-DF/FD Method for Particle Suspensions

In this paper, we propose a lattice Boltzmann (LB) method coupled with adirect-forcing fictitious domain (DF/FD) method for the simulation of particle suspensions. This method combines the good features of the LB and the DF/FD methodsby using two unrelated meshes, namely, an Eulerian mesh for the flow domain and aLagrangian mesh for the solid domain, which avoids the re-meshing procedure anddoes not need to calculate the hydrodynamic forces at each time step. The non-slipboundary condition is enforced by introducing a forcing term into the lattice Boltzmann equation, which preserves all remarkable advantages of the LBM in simulatingfluid flows. The present LB-DF/FD method has been validated by comparing its results with analytical results and previous numerical results for a single circular particleand two circular particles settling under gravity. The interaction between particle andwall, the process of drafting-kissing-tumbling (DKT) of two settling particles will bedemonstrated. As a manifestation of the efficiency of the present method, the settlingof a large number (128) of circular particles is simulated in an enclosure.

Monte Carlo simulation of the diffusion-limited aggregating process of particle suspension systems

The aggregating process of particle suspension systems is a very universal phenomena and crucial for various processes both in nature and in industry.In this paper,the aggregating process was simulated with offlattice diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation(DLCA)Monte Carlo programs.The self-similar fractal structures of aggregates have been clearly demonstrated by the statistical analysis of gyration radius distribution and the existence of a scaling distribution of the reduced cluster size.The fractal dimension determined from the relationship between mass and gyration radius of aggregates was 1.80 or so.The fractal dimension of the aggregates drawn from the radial distribution function and structure factor of a single aggregate is about 1.90-2.10.It was also showed that,along with the increasing of particle volume fraction,the fractal dimension will increase in a nearly square root manner,and the spatial range of the fractal structure appearing becomes narrower.Also,the gelation transition can only occur in a particle suspension system where the particle volume fraction is greater than a critical value.

Preparation and characterization of conducting polymer-coated thermally expandable microspheres

The thermally expandable microspheres（TEMs） were prepared via suspension polymerization with acrylonitrile（AN）, methyl methacrylate（MMA） and methyl acrylate（MA） as monomers and n-hexane as the blowing agent. Meanwhile, a novel type of functional and conductive thermal expandable microsphere was obtained through strongly covering the surface of microsphere by conductive polymers with the mass loading of 1.5%. The optimal conditions to prepare high foaming ratio and equally distributed microcapsules were investigated with AN-MMA-MA in the proportion of 70%/20%/10%（m/m/m）, and 25 wt% of n-hexane in oil phase. The further investigation results showed that the unexpanded TEMs were about 30 μm in diameter and the maximum expansion ratio was nearly 125 times of original volume. The polypyrrole（PPy） was smoothly coated on the surface of the TEMs and the expansion property of PPy-coated TEMs was almost the same as the uncoated TEMs. Moreover, the structure and expanding performance of TEMs and PPy-coated TEMs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, laser particle size analyzer and dilatometer（DIL）.