Direct Numerical Simulations of Colloidal Dispersions

Abstract

We developed a general method for computing the motions of hydrodynamically interacting particles in various host fluids such as colloidal dispersions. The method follows the standard procedure for performing direct numerical simulations (DNS) of particulate systems, where the Navier–Stokes equation is solved consistently with the motion of the rigid particles, which defines the temporal boundary conditions to be satisfied by the fluid motion. The smoothed profile (SP) method, where the sharp boundaries between solid particles and the host fluid are replaced with a smooth profile function with a finite thickness, provides an efficient numerical scheme for coupling the continuum fluid mechanics with the dispersed moving particles. In this short article, the high degree of versatility of the SP method is demonstrated by introducing several successful examples.

Graphical Abstract