Numerical Simulations of Particle Suspensions under Shear Flow Using a Combined Lattice Boltzmann and Discrete Element Method

Abstract

Suspensions of monodisperse spherical particles under shear flow were simulated using a solid-liquid two-phase model based on coupled lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and discrete element method (DEM). Evaluating the shear stresses due to the viscous behavior of the bulk fluid, the hydrodynamic interaction between particles and fluid, and the physical contact between particles, the contribution of each factor to the suspension viscosity was investigated. The results showed that in the range of low to moderate particle volume fractions, the viscosity of suspensions is mainly determined by the action of the fluid, and that the contribution of particle contact increases with increasing particle volume fraction. In particular, the flow behavior of dense suspensions should be viewed not as a fluid motion but as the motion of a group of particles. From these results, in order to predict and control the rheological properties of particle suspensions, it is important to understand that the main factors increasing viscosity vary with the concentration range of interest.