Lattice Boltzmann simulations of viscoplastic fluid flows through complex flow channels

We present the results of lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulations for the planar-flow of viscoplastic fluids through complex flow channels. In this study, the Bingham and Casson model fluids are covered as viscoplastic fluid. The Papanastasiou (modified Bingham) model and the modified Casson model are employed in our LB simulations. The Bingham number is an essential physical parameter when considering viscoplastic fluid flows and the modified Bingham number is proposed for modified viscoplastic models. When the value of the modified Bingham number agrees with that of the “normal” Bingham number, viscoplastic fluid flows formulated by modified viscoplastic models strictly reproduce the flow behavior of the ideal viscoplastic fluids. LB simulations are extensively performed for viscoplastic fluid flows through complex flow channels with rectangular and circular obstacles. It is shown that the LB method (LBM) allows us to successfully compute the flow behavior of viscoplastic fluids in various complicated-flow channels with rectangular and circular obstacles. For even low Re and high Bn numbers corresponding to plastic-property dominant condition, it is clearly manifested that the viscosity for both the viscoplastic fluids is largely decreased around solid obstacles. Also, it is shown that the viscosity profile is quite different between both the viscoplastic fluids due to the inherent nature of the models. The viscosity of the Bingham fluid sharply drops down close to the plastic viscosity, whereas the viscosity of the Casson fluid does not rapidly fall. From this study, it is demonstrated that the LBM can be also an effective methodology for computing viscoplastic fluid flows through complex channels including circular obstacles.     

SECOND-ORDER MOMENT MODEL FOR DENSE TWO-PHASE TURBULENT FLOW OF BINGHAM FLUID WITH PARTICLES

The USM-θmodel of Bingham fluid for dense two-phase turbulent flow was developed, which combines the second-order moment model for two-phase turbulence with the particle kinetic theory for the inter-particle collision. In this model, phases interaction and the extra term of Bingham fluid yield stress are taken into account. An algorithm for USM-θmodel in dense two-phase flow was proposed, in which the influence of particle volume fraction is accounted for. This model was used to simulate turbulent flow of Bingham fluid single-phase and dense liquid-particle two-phase in pipe. It is shown USM-θmodel has better prediction result than the five-equation model, in which the particle-particle collision is modeled by the particle kinetic theory, while the turbulence of both phase is simulated by the two-equation turbulence model. The USM-θmodel was then used to simulate the dense two-phase turbulent up flow of Bingham fluid with particles. With the increasing of the yield stress, the velocities of Bingham and particle decrease near the pipe centre. Comparing the two-phase flow of Bingham-particle with that of liquid-particle, it is found the source term of yield stress has significant effect on flow.     

Couette–Poiseuille flow of Bingham fluids between two porous parallel plates with slip conditions

Analytical solutions of Couette–Poiseuille flow of Bingham fluids between two porous parallel plates are derived. This study extends the work of Tsangaris et al. [S. Tsangaris, C. Nikas, G. Tsangaris, P. Neofytou, Couette flow of a Bingham plastic in a channel with equally porous parallel walls, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 144 (2007) 42–48] to a general situation where the slip effect at the porous walls is considered. It is found that the form of the flow inside the channel depends not only on the Bingham number Bn, the Couette number Co (related to the moving wall) and the transverse Reynolds number Re, but also on the slip parameter Cs at the porous walls. In both the Co–Re diagram and the Co–Bn diagram, the region where plug flow appears enlarges as the slip effect increases, especially in the case where Co is negative. In the case where plug flow and double shear flow coexist, the transverse position of the plug flow and the shear rate at the boundaries exhibit two opposite behaviors when Cs increases, depending on the value of the other three dimensionless numbers. In other cases, slippage always weakens the shearing deformation of the flow.     

A CLOSED SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS FOR DENSE TWO-PHASE FLOW AND EXPRESSIONS OF SHEARING STRESS OF DISPERSED PHA’E AT A WALL

In this paper, each of the two phases in dense two-phase flow is considered as continuous medium and the fundamental equations for two-phase flow are described in Eulerian form. The generalized constitutive relation of the Bingham fluid is applied to the dispersed phase with the analysis of physical mechanism of dense two-phase flow. The shearing stress of dispersed phase at a wall is used to give a boundary condition. Then a mathematical model for dense two-phase flow is obtained. In addition, the expressions of shearing stress of dispersed phase at a wall is derived according to the fundamental model of the factional collision between dispersed-phase particles and the wall.     

Agglomeration of inertial particles in a random rotating symmetric straining flow

This paper is concerned with the development and validation of a simple Lagrangian model for particle agglomeration in a turbulent flow involving the collision of particles in a sequence of correlated straining and vortical structures which simulate the Kolmogorov small scales of motion of the turbulence responsible for particle pair dispersion and collision. In this particular study we consider the collision rate of monodisperse spherical particles in a symmetric (pure) straining flow which is randomly rotated to create an isotropic flow. The model is similar to the classical model of Saffman and Turner (S&T) (1956) for the collision (agglomeration) of tracer particles suspended in a turbulent flow. However unlike S&T, the straining flow is not frozen in time persisting only for timescales ∼Kolmogorov timescale. Furthermore, we consider the collision of inertial particles as well as tracer particles, and study their behavior not only at the collision boundary but also in its vicinity. In the simulation, particles are injected continuously at the boundaries of the straining flow, the size of the straining region being typical of the Kolmogorov length scale η_K of the turbulence. For steady state conditions, we calculate the flux of particles colliding with a test particle at the centre of the straining flow and consider its dependence on the inertia of the colliding particles (characterized by the particle Stokes number, St). The model replicates the segregation and accumulation observed in DNS and in particular the maximum segregation for St ∼ 1 (where St is the ratio of the particle response time to the Kolmogorov timescale). We also calculate the contributions of the various turbulent forces in the momentum balance equation for satellite particles and show for instance that for small Stokes number, there is a balance between turbulent diffusion and turbophoresis (gradient of kinetic stresses) which in turn is responsible for the build-up of concentration at the collision boundary. As found in previous studies, for the case of inertialess tracer particles, the collision rate turns out to be significantly smaller than the S&T prediction due to a lowering of the concentration at the collision boundary compared to the fully mixed value. The increase in collision rate for St ∼ 0.5 is shown to be a combination of particle segregation (build-up of concentration near the collision boundary) and the decorrelation of the relative velocity between the local fluid and a colliding particle. The difference from the S&T value for the agglomeration kernel is shown to be a consequence of the choice of perfectly absorbing boundary conditions at collision and the influence of the time scale of the turbulence (eddy lifetime). We draw the analogy between turbulent agglomeration and particle deposition in a fully developed turbulent boundary layer.     

Nonhomogeneous Incompressible Herschel–Bulkley Fluid Flows Between Two Eccentric Cylinders

The equations for the nonhomogeneous incompressible Herschel–Bulkley fluid are considered and existence of a weak solution is proved for a boundary-value problem which describes three-dimensional flows between two eccentric cylinders when in each two-dimensional cross-section annulus the flow characteristics are the same. The rheology of such a fluid is defined by a yield stress τ* and a discontinuous stress-strain law. A fluid volume stiffens if its local stresses do not exceed τ*, and a fluid behaves like a nonlinear fluid otherwise. The flow equations are formulated in the stress–velocity–density–pressure setting. Our approach is different from that of Duvaut–Lions developed for the classical Bingham viscoplastic fluids. We do not apply the variational inequality but make use of an approximation of the generalized Bingham fluid by a non-Newtonian fluid with a continuous constitutive law.     

Free surface effects in squeeze flow of Bingham plastics

New results for the squeeze flow of Bingham plastics show the shape of the free surface in quasi-steady-state simulations, and its effect on the yielded/unyielded regions and the squeeze force. The present simulation results are obtained for both planar and axisymmetric geometries as in our previous paper [A. Matsoukas, E. Mitsoulis, Geometry effects in squeeze flow of Bingham plastics, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 109 (2003) 231–240] and for aspect ratios ranging from 0.01 to 1. Bigger aspect ratios produce more free surface movement relative to the disk radius or plate length, but less movement relative to the gap. Planar geometries give more free surface movement than axisymmetric ones. Viscoplasticity serves to reduce the free surface movement and its deformation. In some cases of planar geometries and big aspect ratios, unyielded regions appear at the free surface, while the small unyielded regions near the center of the disks or plates are not affected. Including the free surface in the calculations of the squeeze force adds a small percentage to the values depending on aspect ratio and Bingham number. The previously fitted easy-to-use equations are corrected to account for that effect.     

Multi-layer channel flows with yield stress fluids

We present results of a computational study of visco-plastically lubricated plane channel multi-layer flows, in which the yield stress fluid layers are unyielded at the interface. We demonstrate that symmetric 3-layer flows may be established for wide ranges of viscosity ratio (m), Bingham number (B) and interface position (y_i), for Reynolds numbers Re ≤ 100. Here an inner Newtonian layer is sandwiched between 2 layers of Bingham fluid. Results are presented illustrating the variation of development length with the main dimensionless parameters and for different inlet sizes. We also show that these flows may be initiated by injecting either fluid into a steady flow of the other fluid. The flows are established quicker when the core fluid is injected into a channel already full of the outer fluid. In situations where the inner fluid flow rate is dominant we observed inertial symmetry breaking in the symmetric start-up flows as Re was increased. Asymmetry is also observed in studying temporal nonlinear stability of these flows, which appear stable up to moderate Re and significant amplitudes. In general the flows destabilize at lower Re and perturbation amplitudes than do the analogous core-annular pipe flows, but 1–1 comparison is hard. When the flow is stable the decay characteristics are very similar to those of the pipe flows. In the final part of the paper we explore more exotic flow effects. We show how flow control could be used to position layers asymmetrically within the flow, and how this effect might be varied transiently. We demonstrate that more complex layered flows can be stably achieved, e.g. a 7-layered flow is established. We also show how a varying inlet position can be used to “write” in the yield stress fluid: complex structures that are advected with the flow and encapsulated within the unyielded fluid.     

Couette flow of a Bingham plastic in a channel with equally porous parallel walls

In the present paper the flow of a Bingham fluid between two parallel porous walls is studied. One of the walls moves with constant velocity parallel to the other, which is fixed, while a longitudinal pressure gradient exists, as well as a transverse flow field due the porosity of the walls. An exact analytical solution is given for the u-velocity field, which has four different forms depending on the values of the three dimensionless parameters, which are the Bingham, Couette and Reynolds numbers.     

On the stability of a Bingham fluid flow in an annular channelSur la stabilité de l'écoulement d'un fluide de Bingham dans une conduite annulaire

Linear stability of a fully developed Bingham fluid flow between two coaxial cylinders subject to infinitesimal axisymetric perturbations is investigated. The analysis leads to two uncoupled Orr–Sommerfeld equations with appropriate boundary conditions. The numerical solution is obtained using fourth order finite difference scheme. The computations were performed for various plug flow dimensions and radii ratios. Within the range of the parameters considered in this paper, the Poiseuille flow of Bingham fluid is found to be linearly stable. To cite this article: N. Kabouya, C. Nouar, C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

Peristaltic transport of a Herschel-Bulkley fluid in an inclined tube

Peristaltic flow of Herschel-Bulkley fluid in an inclined tube is analyzed. The velocity distribution, the stream function and the volume flow rate are obtained. Also, when the yield stress ratio τ→0, and when the inclination parameter α=0 and the fluid parameter n=1, the results agree with those of Jaffrin and Shapiro (Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 3 (1971) 13) for peristaltic transport of a Newtonian fluid in a horizontal tube. The effects of τ and n on the pressure drop and the mean flow are discussed through graphs. Furthermore, the results for the peristaltic transport of Bingham and power law fluids through a flexible tube are obtained and discussed. The results obtained for the flow characteristics reveal many interesting behaviors that warrant further study of the effects of Herschel-Bulkley fluid on the flow characteristics.     

Stability of a Rayleigh-Bénard Poiseuille flow for yield stress fluids—Comparison between Bingham and regularized models

A linear stability analysis of a Rayleigh-Bénard Poiseuille flow is performed for yield stress fluids whether we use the Bingham or regularized models. A fundamental difference between those models is that the effective viscosity is not defined in the plug zone for the Bingham model, while it is defined in the whole domain for the regularized models. For these models, the viscosity depends highly on a parameter ? near the axis and increases drastically in an intermediate region. The convergence of the critical conditions between the simple and the Bingham models is not obtained. However, we show that the Bercovier and Papanastasiou models can tend to the exact Bingham results.     

On the linking up between Bingham fluid and plugged flow

When Bingham fluid is in motion, plugged flow often occurs at places far from the boundary walls. As there is not a decisive formula of constitutive relation for plugged flow, in some problems the solutions obtained may be indefinite. In this paper, annular flow and pipe flow are discussed, and unique solution is obtained in each case by utilizing the analytic property of shear stress. The solutions are identical in form with the commonly used formula for the pressure drop of mud flow in petroleum engineering.     

A numerical study of bingham turbulent flow in sudden-expansion straight circular pipe

I.IntroductionBinghamfluidisonebranchofnon-Newtonianfluid,suchascrudeparaffinoil,highsediment--ladenwaterflow,highconcentrationmudandthelikewhicharetransportedinpipelinesinmanyindustries,soit'sofgreatsignificancetostudytheflowmechanismsofBinghamfluid.Tsaietal.II]studiedthelinkagebetweenBinghamfluidandpluggedflow.Wangetal.I2]measuredtheturbulencestructureofBinghammud.Mengetal.[3]researchedthekineticenergycorrectionfactorofBinghamfluidinacircularpipe.However,thestudyofBinghamfluidsofarisn't…     

Entrance flow of a bingham fluid in a tube

The numerical solution of the entrance flow in a tube has been obtained for a Bingham fluid. The numerical procedure used is that of Patankar and Spalding [1]. The accuracy of the numerical results is demonstrated by comparing the fully-developed velocity profiles with analytical exact solutions. The results of the entrance flow in a tube for the case of a zero yield stress are compared with the entrance flow solution for a Newtonian fluid. Detailed results are presented for a wide range of yield numbers (=τ _y D/ūμ).     

Creeping flow around particles in a Bingham fluid

We revisit the variational setting of the creeping flow of Bingham fluid about a particle. We investigate two problems: the resistance and the mobility problem, which arise in the context of sedimentation. We present results and the general framework for uniqueness, symmetry and reversibility properties of solutions, and clarify the relation between resistance and mobility problems. We also consider general properties of the static stability limit (or load limit). In the second part of the paper we apply insights gained from the first part to the computation of 2D exterior flow around an infinite cylinder with elliptical cross-section. We study the static stability limit and find that the limiting flow solution approaches the perfectly plastic solid solution.     

On the shearing zone around rotating vanes in plastic liquids: theory and experiment

The fracture zone (or shearing surface) around a four-bladed vane rotating in a Bingham liquid has a diameterD_c which is significantly larger than the vane diameter. In typical plastic liquidsD_c/D ≈ 1.00–1.05. We have measuredD_c and the rheology of some automotive greases. We have also photographed the fractural surface in a transparent Bingham liquid and have found it to be approximately cylindrical.Computer simulations of a four-bladed vane rotating in a Bingham liquid have produced a value ofD_c/D = 1.025 which agrees well with experimental data on two viscoelastic automotive greases. We have not been able to obtain agreement between experiment and theory on the dependence ofD_c/D on τ_y/η_p.The experimental and theoretical data presented here support the use of the vane for yield stress measurements if the diameter correction is applied. The present experimental data suggests the vane diameter has little or no effect onD_c/D.     

New lattice Boltzmann model for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations

We have developed a fundamentally new type of simple lattice Boltzmann (LB) model for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations based on the kinetic system proposed by Sone. The model uses the kinetic equation of free-molecular type in the streaming process and modifies the distribution function to its Chapman-Enskog type at each time step. Compared with the current LB models, the proposed model is superior in the following two points: (i) there are no inherent errors associated with the Knudsen number; (ii) any flow parameters, including three transport coefficients, can be chosen freely according to our convenience. Numerical tests and error estimates confirm the above statements.     

An evaluation of force terms in the lattice Boltzmann models in simulating shallow water flows over complex topography

Proper approximation of the force terms, especially the bed slope term, is of crucial importance to simulating shallow water flows in lattice Boltzmann (LB) models. However, there is little discussion on the schemes of adding force terms to LB models for shallow water equations (SWEs). In this study, we evaluate the performance of forcing schemes coupled with different LB models (LABSWE and MLBSWE) in simulating shallow water flows over complex topography and try to find out their intrinsic characteristics and applicability. Three cases are adopted for evaluation, including a stationary case, a one-dimensional tidal wave flow over an irregular bed, and a steady flow over a two-dimensional seamount. The simulating results are compared with analytical solutions or the results produced by the finite difference method. For LABSWE, all the forcing schemes, except for the weighting factor method, fail to produce accurate solutions for the test cases; this is probably due to the mismatch between the bed slope term in source terms and the quadratic depth term of the equilibrium distribution functions in these forcing schemes. For MLBSWE, all the forcing schemes are capable of simulating flows over the complex topography accurately; furthermore, those schemes taking into account the collision effect τ to eliminate the momentum induced by forces provide more accurate solutions with quicker convergence as the lattice size decreases. In this view, MLBSWE can bring more flexibility in treating the force terms and thus can be a better tool to simulate shallow water flows over complex topography in practical application.     

Numerical Flow Simulation for Bingham Plastics in a Single-Screw Extruder

Numerical simulations have been performed concerning the operation of a single-screw extruder, pumping a Bingham plastic under isothermal, developed flow conditions. Under the assumption of sufficiently low Reynolds numbers, inertia effects are neglected. The singular rheological behavior of the Bingham plastic is considered as the limiting case within a class of generalized Newtonian liquids with smooth constitutive equations. The validation of this regularization process is shown for a related flow problem where the Bingham solution is known analytically. A mixed finite-element method is applied to the flow in the screw-extruder to reduce the equations of motion, the continuity equation, and the regularized constitutive equation to a set of nonlinear algebraic equations, which are solved using a Newton method. In particular, the pumping characteristics of a given screw geometry are extracted from the finite-element calculations, i.e., the dependence of the volumetric flow rate and of the power requirement on the axial pressure drop, on the screw speed, and on the rheological parameters. Calculated flow fields clearly show the size and position of regions in the extruder channel where the Bingham plastic behaves like a solid. Received: 12 December 1995 and accepted 12 November 1996