Development and validation of a reduced order history force model

The history force model accounts for temporal development in fluid gradients in the viscous region surrounding a particle in point particle methods. The calculation of the history force typically requires storing and using relative velocity information during the life time of the particle. For a large number of particles integrated over large times, history force calculation can become prohibitively expensive. The current work presents a new modeling approach to calculate the history force in which a decay function is applied to a stored cumulative value of the history force. The proposed formulation is equivalent to applying the same function obtained from a constant acceleration assumption to a running average of the acceleration within the memory time of the particle. The new force model is validated with experimental measurements of settling spheres at Reynolds numbers ranging from around one to a few hundreds and at density ratios from 1.2 to about 9.32. More validation work was carried-out with experimental measurements of oscillating spheres at different frequencies and amplitudes, as well as bouncing spheres at different Reynolds numbers and density ratios. The model shows very good agreement with the experiments of settling spheres and reasonable/good agreement with oscillating and bouncing sphere experiments. The proposed model significantly reduces the computational resources required to calculate the history force especially when large number of particles need to be integrated over long times.     

Capture of small drops by large drops in an electric field

In the investigation of the process of the breakdown of emulsions by the coalescence of drops, up to the present time, use has been made of the theory of the coagulation of colloids (for example, [1]). However, there is a considerable difference between colloids and emulsions. Forces of attraction, bringing about the coalescence of two colloidal particles, become predominant at distances much greater than the particle size, so that, in a hydrodynamic sense, it can be assumed that colloidal particles do not interact. On the contrary, the disperse phase in emulsions consists of molecularly smooth spherical drops with a size from a few tenths of a micron or more and, with approach of the drops, forces of hydrodynamic interaction, inhibiting coalescence, become substantial. As a rule, the drops can be regarded as rigid undeformed spheres since their surface is stabilized by surface-active substances. With the approach of such spheres, the layer of liquid between them generates a braking force proportional to the rate of approach of the drops and inversely proportional to the distance between their surfaces. As a result, the approach of drops under the action of a finite force takes place over an infinite time. It follows from this that the process of the coalescence of drops requires the presence of a force of attraction, rising to infinity with approach of the drops, and any theory of coalescence must take simultaneous account of the forces of attraction of the drops and of the hydrodynamic forces.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 61–68, September–October, 1973.     

Shear thickening in electrically-stabilized colloidal suspensions

A theory is presented for the onset of shear thickening in colloidal suspensions of particles, stabilized by an electrostatic repulsion. Based on an activation model, a critical shear stress can be derived for the onset of shear thickening in dense suspensions for a constant potential and a constant charge approach of the spheres. Unlike previous models, the total interaction potential is taken into account (sum of attraction and repulsion). The critical shear stress is related to the maximum of the total interaction potential scaled by the free volume per particle. A comparison with experimental investigations shows the applicability of the theory.     

New expressions for the radiation force function of spherical targets in stationary and quasi-stationary waves

A new expression for the radiation force function – which is the radiation force per unit energy density and unit cross-sectional surface area – for spheres in a stationary (or standing) and quasi-stationary wave is obtained based on the far-field acoustic scattering field. The radiation force function formulation has been simplified mathematically and improved into a more general form. Numerical results are presented for rigid and elastic spheres, air bubbles in water as well as liquid drops in air to illustrate the theory. It is demonstrated that expressions for the radiation force functions obtained from the far-field derivation approach are equivalent to those obtained from the near-field-based derivation.     

The impact of non-DLVO forces on the onset of shear thickening of concentrated electrically stabilized suspensions

This paper exposes an extension of an activation model previously published by the authors. When particles arranged along the compression axis of a sheared suspension, they may overcome the electrostatic repulsion and form force chains associated with shear thickening. A percolation-based consideration allows an estimation of the impact of the force chains on a flowing suspension. It suggests that similar to mode coupling models, the suspension becomes unstable before the critical stress evaluated from the activation model is reached. The percolated force chains lead to discontinuous shear thickening. The model predictions are compared with results from two experimental studies on aqueous suspensions of inorganic oxides; in one of them, hydration repulsion and in the other hydrophobic attraction can be expected. It is shown that the incorporation of non-Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek forces greatly improve predictions of the shear thickening instability.     

A capillary force model for interactions between two spheres

Based on the method of energy principle, an analytical approach for computing the capillary force for sphere/sphere geometry is presented in this paper. In modeling the capillary force, we consider spheres with both equal and non-equal radii, for both symmetric and asymmetric configurations at liquid/solid interfaces. We use numerical analysis to investigate the validity and efficiency of the derived model. The effect of various parameters including humidity, distance between two spheres, radii of spheres and contact angles on the meniscus force are investigated. Finally the results obtained from the model are compared with experimental measurements, and the accuracy and precision of the presented approach is verified.     

The slow motion of two particles symmetrically placed about the axis of a circular cylinder in a direction perpendicular to their line of centers

Numerical values are provided which enable the trictional force and torque on the reference sphere to be computed for the particular case when two spheres move in a direction perpendicular to their line of centers symmetrically placed about the axis of a circular cylinder. Results for this motion are also expressed in terms of the ratio of frictional forces experienced by 1) a body of arbitrary shape in a bounded fluid with another particle and 2) the body now moving alone with the same speed and orientation in the same but unbounded fluid. The computation furnishes the interaction and wall corrections correct to the first order in the ratios of characteristic particle dimension to characteristic distance of the particle from another object. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data and found to be in excellent agreement.     

Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic spheres: A model of adhesion mediated deformation sensor

A generalized JKR model is established for non-slipping adhesive contact between two dissimilar elastic spheres subjected to a pair of pulling forces and a mismatch strain. We discuss the full elastic solution to the problem as well as the so-called non-oscillatory solution in which tension and shear tractions along the contact interface is decoupled from each other. The model indicates that the mismatch strain has significant effect on the contact area and the pull-off process. Under a finite pulling force, a pair of adhering spheres is predicted to break apart spontaneously at a critical mismatch strain. This study suggests an adhesion mediated deformation sensing mechanism by which cells and molecules can detect mechanical signals in the environment via adhesive interactions.     

Electrostatic pull-in instability for tweezer architectures

Meccanica - The work investigates the static pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated tweezers with tubular electrodes. At a critical voltage, named pull-in voltage, the attraction force...     

Drag forces of interacting spheres in power-law fluids

Drag forces of interacting particles suspended in power-law fluid flows were investigated in this study. The drag forces of interacting spheres were directly measured by using a micro-force measuring system. The tested particles include a pair of interacting spheres in tandem and individual spheres in a cubic matrix of multi-sphere in flows with the particle Reynolds number from 0.7 to 23. Aqueous carboxymethycellulose (CMC) solutions and glycerin solutions were used as the fluid media in which the interacting spheres were suspended. The range of power-law index varied from 0.6 to 1.0. In conjunction to the drag force measurements, the flow patterns and velocity fields of power-law flows over a pair of interacting spheres were also obtained from the laser assisted flow visualization and numerical simulation.

Both experimental and computational results suggest that, while the drag force of an isolated sphere depends on the power-index, the drag coefficient ratio of an interacting sphere is independent from the power-law index but strongly depends on the separation distance and the particle Reynolds number. Our study also shows that the drag force of a particle in an assemblage is strongly positions dependent, with a maximum difference up to 38%.     

Measurement of the viscoelastic properties of bituminous materials using an oscillating needle technique

An embedded oscillating needle is used to measure the dynamic viscoelastic properties of a stiff bituminous material. A Micro-Fourier Rheometer was used to cause the embedded needle to undergo pseudorandom small amplitude oscillations in the axial direction with measurement of the instantaneous resistance force. The phase and magnitude of the force signal are used to calculate the storage and loss moduli. A theoretical framework for this technique is developed from the Mindlin solution coupled with slender body theory, and the correspondence principle of linear viscoelasticity. Experiments are performed on neat bitumen binders as well as mixtures of glass spheres in bitumen; the results show that the presence of the glass spheres dramatically increases the viscoelastic response functions. The results agree reasonably well with those obtained using the parallel plate squeezing mode. Received: 31 March 1999 Accepted: 14 July 1999     

Finite element analysis of the axially symmetric motion of an incompressible viscous fluid in a spherical annulus

This paper presents results obtained by employing a modified Galerkin finite element method to analyse the steady state flow of a fluid contained between two concentric, rotating spheres. The spheres are assumed to be rigid and the cavity region between the spheres is filled with an incompressible, viscous, Newtonian fluid. The inner sphere is constrained to rotate about a vertical axis with a prescribed angular velocity, while the outer sphere is fixed. Results for the circumferential function Ω, streamfunction ψ, vorticity function ζ and inner boundary torque T₁ are presented for Reynolds numbers Re ? 2000 and radius ratios 0.1 ? α ? 0.9. The method proved effective for obtaining results for a wide range of radius ratios (0.1 ? α ? 0.9) and Reynolds numbers (0 ? Re ? 2000). Previous investigators who employed the finite difference method experienced difficulties in obtaining results for cases with radius ratios α ? 0.2, except for small Reynolds numbers (Re ? 100). Results for Ω, Ψ, ζ and T₁ obtained in this study for radius ratios 0.8 ≤ α ≤ 0.9 verified the development of Taylor vortices reported by other investigators. The research indicates that the method may be useful for analysing other non-linear fluid flow problems.     

Experimental investigation of the angular dependence of laser light scattered in laser-Doppler anemometry

In laser-Doppler anemometry (LDA) the light scattered from small particles is generally observed either in on-axis or sligthly off-axis forward or backscattering mode. The present paper reports on experimental results achieved with a LDA-system, which clearly demonstrates the distinct superiority of the forward scattering mode over backscattering on the bases of scattering diagrams. These diagrams are compared to Mie's theory of the diffraction of electromagnetic waves on dielectric spheres. Good agreement could be found for all the observation angles which are mostly used in LDA-arrangements.     

SQUEEZE FILM FLOW WITH NONLINEAR BOUNDARY SLIP

A nonlinear boundary slip model consisting of an initial slip length and a critical shear rate was used to study the nonlinear boundary slip of squeeze fluid film confined between two approaching spheres. It is found that the initial slip length controls the slip behavior at small shear rate, but the critical shear rate controls the boundary slip at high shear rate. The boundary slip at the squeeze fluid film of spherical surfaces is a strongly nonlinear function of the radius coordinate. At the center or far from the center of the squeeze film, the slip length equals the initial slip length due to the small shear rate. However, in the high shear rate regime the slip length increases very much. The hydrodynamic force of the spherical squeeze film decreases with increasing the initial slip length and decreasing the critical shear rate. The effect of initial slip length on the hydrodynamic force seems less than that of the critical shear rate. When the critical shear rate is very small the hydrodynamic force increases very slowly with a decrease in minimum film thickness. The theoretical predictions agree well with the experiment measurements.     

Water entry of spinning hydrophobic and hydrophilic spheres

An experimental investigation of the trajectories, forces and cavity formation behind spinning hydrophobic and hydrophilic spheres is presented. Several cases are also presented for non-spinning spheres which are half hydrophobic and half hydrophilic. Data from high speed imaging are processed using advanced data techniques to gain accurate position, velocity and acceleration trends for the spheres as they descend and curve along their trajectories. The data show that an increase in lateral (sideways) force corresponds with the asymmetric cavity formation around the spinning or half-and-half coated spheres. Despite the lack of cavity formation, the slower translating and rotating hydrophilic spheres still move along a curved trajectory, but with less lateral displacement, velocity and acceleration, thus indicating that spin induces less lateral force compared to asymmetrical cavity formation.     

Three‐dimensional immersed boundary conditions for moving solids in the lattice‐Boltzmann method

This paper establishes the range of validity for a previously published three‐dimensional moving solid boundary condition for the lattice‐Boltzmann method. This method was reasonably formulated from a mass and momentum balance perspective, but was only verified for a small range of (primarily two‐dimensional) problems. One of the advantages of this boundary condition is that it offers resolution at the sub‐grid scale, allowing for accurate and stable calculation of the force and torque for solids which are moving through a lattice, even for small solid sizes relative to the computational grid size. We verify the boundary condition for creeping flows by comparison to analytical solutions that include both the force and the torque on fixed and moving spheres, and then follow this with comparisons to experimental and empirical results for both fixed as well moving spheres in inertial flows. Finally, we compare simulation results to numerical results of other investigators for the settling of an offset sphere and the drafting–kissing–tumbling of two sedimenting spheres. We found that an accurate calculation of the collision‐operator weighting used to obtain sub‐grid‐scale resolution was necessary in order to prevent spikes in the velocities, forces, and moments when solid objects cross‐computational cells. The wide range of comparisons collected and presented in this paper can be used to establish the validity of other numerical models, in addition to the one examined here. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The squeeze flow of a bi-viscosity fluid between two rigid spheres with wall slip

In this paper, the squeeze flow between two rigid spheres with a bi-viscosity fluid is examined. Based on lubrication theory, the squeeze force is calculated by deriving the pressure and velocity expressions. The results of the normal squeeze force are discussed, and fitting functions of the squeeze and correction coefficients are given. The squeeze force between the rigid spheres increases linearly or logarithmically with the velocity when most or part of the boundary fluid reaches the yield state, respectively. Furthermore, the slip correction coefficient decreases with the increase in the velocity. The investigation may contribute to the further study of bi-viscosity fluids between rigid spheres with wall slip.     

Numerical investigation of dynamical behavior of tethered rigid spheres in supersonic flow

The dynamical behavior of two tethered rigid spheres in a supersonic flow is numerically investigated. The tethered lengths and radius ratios of the two spheres are different. The two spheres, which are centroid axially aligned initially, are held stationary first, then released, and subsequently let fly freely in a supersonic flow. The mean qualities of the system and the qualities of the bigger sphere are considered and compared with the situations without the tether. In the separation process, six types of motion caused by the spheres, tether, and fluid interaction are found. The results show that the mean x-velocity of the system changes in a different manner for different radius ratios, and the x-velocity of the bigger sphere is uniformly reduced but through different mechanisms.     

Vibrational hydrodynamic interaction between a sphere and the boundaries of a cavity

A new type of vibrational lift force [1] acting on a spherical body oscillating in a viscous fluid near a rigid boundary is experimentally investigated. The interaction between the body and the cavity boundary creates a repulsion force which is capable of holding a heavy body in the gravity field at a certain distance from the floor and a light body at a certain distance from the ceiling. The repulsion force appears at a distance comparable with the Stokesian boundary layer thickness and increases as the surface is approached. Outside the viscous interaction range, the repulsion force is replaced by an attraction force which decays with distance. Dimensionless parameters governing the vibrational interaction are found and threshold curves, corresponding to the transition of bodies of different densities to the “suspended” state, are plotted as functions of a dimensionless frequency. The dependence of the repulsion and attraction forces on the distance between the body and the wall is studied.     

Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic cylinders

We have recently proposed a generalized JKR model for non-slipping adhesive contact between two elastic spheres subjected to a pair of pulling forces and a mismatch strain (Chen, S., Gao, H., 2006c. Non-slipping adhesive contact between mismatched elastic spheres: a model of adhesion mediated deformation sensor. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 54, 1548–1567). Here we extend this model to adhesion between two mismatched elastic cylinders. The attention is focused on how the mismatch strain affects the contact area and the pull-off force. It is found that there exists a critical mismatch strain at which the contact spontaneously dissociates. The analysis suggests possible mechanisms by which mechanical deformation can affect binding between cells and molecules in biology.