A comparative study on the effect of hydrodynamic interactions in the non-sequential deposition of concentrated colloidal dispersions: stochastic rotation dynamics and Brownian dynamics simulations

Irreversible adsorption of particles onto a flat surface as a consequence of sedimentation colloidal suspension has been studied by two simulation techniques: Brownian dynamics (BD) and stochastic rotation dynamics (SRD). The purpose of using both methods is to investigate the effect of hydrodynamic interactions on adsorption kinetics and structure of the first monolayer of sediment obtained from the sedimentation of a concentrated and monodisperse colloidal suspension. Three systems were studied, characterised by the Péclet numbers: 0.1, 1.0 and 10. To physically understand the kinetic behaviour, simulation results were analysed using a kinetic model based on chemical reactions. High values of jamming limit (θ_∞ > 0.61) were obtained for both simulation techniques, with the SRD showing the highest figures (0.631) due to the hydrodynamics effect that takes into account the fluid backflow produced on particle sedimentation. A two-step adsorption mechanism was proposed based on the observed kinetic behaviour.     

Direct assessment of lattice Boltzmann hydrodynamics and boundary conditions for recirculating flows

A hydrodynamic boundary condition is developed for lattice Boltzmann hydrodynamics using a square, orthogonal grid. A constraint based on energy considerations is developed to provide closure for the equations which govern the particle distribution at the boundaries. This boundary condition is applied to the two-dimensional, steady flow of an incompressible fluid behind a grid, known as Kovasznay flow. The results are compared to those using alternate boundary conditions using the known exact solution. The hydrodynamic boundary condition produces quadratic spatial convergence, while alternate techniques fail to maintain this second-order accuracy.     

基于黎曼解的移动最小二乘粒子动力学数值方法

叙述移动最小二乘粒子动力学(MLSPH)的基本原理,讨论一维MLSPH计算方法,提出两种不同精度的基于无网格的构造黎曼问题初值的方法.通过黎曼解近似粒子间的相互作用,减小接触间断附近的震荡,并给出多介质一维激波管问题的算例,验证此方法的有效性.     

The effective torque on patchy spheres nearby a flat substrate induced by infinitely thin rods with adsorptive ends

The system studied here is the mixture of infinitely thin rods and a patchy sphere nearby a flat substrate. The adsorption between the rod ends and the patch can induce an effective torque on the sphere, which are studied by the Monte Carlo method. At the proper patch angle, the effective torque makes the patchy surface face away from the substrate, and the effective interaction between the bare surface and the substrate is attractive at the same time. The effective torque strengthens with the approach between the sphere and the substrate, while first strengthens and then weakens with the increase of the included angle between the axis of the patch and the normal of the substrate. The relationships between the effective torque and the adsorptive strength, the patch angle and the diameter of the sphere have also been studied. The effective torque discussed here may play a role in the biological lock-and-key mechanism and be used to adjust the two-dimensional self-assembly of the colloidal particles with the anisotropic surface.     

Lattice-Boltzmann accuracy in pore-scale flow simulation

We investigate the possibility of using nominally second-order-accurate techniques for resolving flow about solid boundaries as a means of improving accuracy and reducing grid resolution requirements in pore-scale simulations. An LBGK method is used to calculate flow in several geometries of increasing complexity, using a first-order accurate and two nominally second-order-accurate methods for no-slip boundaries. The geometries include uniform flow past an isolated sphere, quadratic flow past a sphere near a wall, flow through a BCC array of spheres, and through a randomly packed bed of spheres. The packed bed flows are also used to compare hydrodynamic dispersion results. The results confirm second-order-accurate behavior where Navier–Stokes flows are clearly developed. However 3D pore-scale simulations involve a trade-off between resolution of the flow and the number of pore spaces, and there is a resolution threshold, below which certain flow features, such as recirculation, are not resolved. We conjecture that most simulations will tend to operate near this threshold because of the competing demands for resolution and statistical accuracy. We consider local flow features and the velocity distribution, in addition to hydraulic permeability and drag, to provide a fuller understanding of accuracy near this threshold.     

Knudsen Gas in a Finite Random Tube: Transport Diffusion and First Passage Properties

We consider transport diffusion in a stochastic billiard in a random tube which is elongated in the direction of the first coordinate (the tube axis). Inside the random tube, which is stationary and ergodic, non-interacting particles move straight with constant speed. Upon hitting the tube walls, they are reflected randomly, according to the cosine law: the density of the outgoing direction is proportional to the cosine of the angle between this direction and the normal vector. Steady state transport is studied by introducing an open tube segment as follows: We cut out a large finite segment of the tube with segment boundaries perpendicular to the tube axis. Particles which leave this piece through the segment boundaries disappear from the system. Through stationary injection of particles at one boundary of the segment a steady state with non-vanishing stationary particle current is maintained. We prove (i) that in the thermodynamic limit of an infinite open piece the coarse-grained density profile inside the segment is linear, and (ii) that the transport diffusion coefficient obtained from the ratio of stationary current and effective boundary density gradient equals the diffusion coefficient of a tagged particle in an infinite tube. Thus we prove Fick’s law and equality of transport diffusion and self-diffusion coefficients for quite generic rough (random) tubes. We also study some properties of the crossing time and compute the Milne extrapolation length in dependence on the shape of the random tube.     

Heterogeneous nucleation and microstructure formation in colloidal model systems with various interactions

Recent studies of crystal nucleation and further microstructure formation in colloidal model systems are reviewed. Homogeneous as well as different heterogeneous nucleation scenarios will be discussed. We focus on the crystallization process of one component colloidal model systems with hard sphere like interaction, long range electrostatic interaction and depletion force induced attractive interaction. Heterogeneous crystallization on flat and smooth substrates, on structured substrates, induced by different kind of seed particles as well as inoculation adding a larger amount of seeds will be presented.     

Simulation method of colloidal suspensions with hydrodynamic interactions: fluid particle dynamics

We develop a new simulation method of colloidal suspensions, which we call a "fluid particle dynamics" (FPD) method. This FPD method, which treats a colloid as a fluid particle, removes the difficulties stemming from a solid-fluid boundary condition in the treatment of hydrodynamic interactions between the particles. The importance of interparticle hydrodynamic interactions in the aggregation process of colloidal particles is demonstrated as an example. This method can be applied to a wide range of problems in colloidal science.     

Like-charge attraction and hydrodynamic interaction

We demonstrate that the attractive interaction measured between like-charged colloidal spheres near a wall can be accounted for by a nonequilibrium hydrodynamic effect. We present both analytical results and Brownian dynamics simulations which quantitatively capture the one-wall experiments of Larsen and Grier [Nature (London) 385, 230 (1997)], using a single unmeasured parameter.     

Effect of geometrical confinement on the interaction between charged colloidal suspensions

The effective interaction between charged colloidal particles confined between two planar like-charged walls is investigated using computer simulations of the primitive model describing asymmetric electrolytes. In detail, we calculate the effective force acting onto a single macroion and onto a macroion pair in the presence of slitlike confinement. For moderate Coulomb coupling, we find that this force is repulsive. Under strong-coupling conditions, however, the sign of the force depends on the distance to the plates and on the interparticle distance. In particular, the particle-plate interaction becomes strongly attractive for small distances which may explain the occurrence of colloidal crystalline layers near the plates observed in recent experiments.     

Computer simulations of structure, dynamics, and phase behavior of colloidal fluids in confined geometry and under shear

Using computer simulations, colloidal systems in different external fields are investigated. Colloid-polymer mixtures, described in terms of the Asakura-Oosawa (AO) model, are considered under strong confinement. Both in cylindrical and spherical confinement, the demixing transition of the three-dimensional AO model is rounded and, using Monte Carlo simulations, we analyze in detail the consequences of this rounding (occurrence of multi-domain states in cylindrical geometry, non-equivalence of conjugate ensembles due to different finite-size corrections in spherical geometry etc.). For the case of the AO model confined between two parallel walls, spinodal decomposition is studied using a combination of molecular dynamics simulation and the multiparticle collision dynamics method. This allows us to investigate the influence of hydrodynamic interactions on the domain growth during spinodal decomposition. For a binary glass-forming Yukawa mixture, non-linear active micro-rheology is considered, i.e. a single particle is pulled through a deeply supercooled liquid. The diffusion dynamics of the pulled particle is analyzed in terms of the van Hove correlation function. Finally, the Yukawa mixture in the glass state, confined between walls, is studied under the imposition of a uniform shear stress. Below and around the yield stress, persistent creep in the form of shear-banded structures is observed.     

Viscous Interaction Between a Vortex Tube and a Rotating Spherical Particle

The transient advection of a cylindrical vortex tube in a viscous incompressible flow field and its interaction with a rotating/spinning spherical particle has been investigated numerically at Reynolds numbers in the range of 20≤ Re≤200 for angular velocities of 0≤Ω≤0.5. The effects of vortex parameters such as size, circulation strength and initial position relative to the particle, on the temporal behavior of the lift and drag forces are studied. Vortex‐sphere interactions bring about major changes in the flow field particularly when coupled with particle rotation. It is observed that the forces acting on the particle are significantly influenced during the time that the vortex core is in the vicinity of the particle. The extent of these local changes are about ±30% in the drag coefficient and about ±200% in the lift coefficient as compared to flow over a rotating solid sphere with no vortex interaction. It is also found that a vortex with core radius between one and two particle diameters creates the strongest temporal variations in the lift and drag coefficients. Furthermore, maximum lift variations occur for the vortex‐particle head on collision, while a vortex with an offset distance of about one diameter from the principal flow axis generates the maximum drag variations.     

Formation of square-order areas on the colloidosome surface

The self-assembly of the colloidosome, i.e., the system of rather densely packed colloidal particles arranged at the spherical interface of two phases, has been simulated. Particles are retained on the sphere surface by surface tension and are ordered due to the interaction described by the Lennard-Jones potential. The particle coordinates are obtained by conditional minimization of the free energy of the system. The violations of the average hexagonal order of colloidosome surface particles, not reduced to the topologically caused formation of pentagonal point defects, are studied. It is shown that the average area excess per colloidal particle can cause the formation of square-order areas observed in colloidosomes.     

Experimental studies of bubble dynamics inside a corner

The dynamics of a bubble near a corner formed by two flat rigid boundaries (walls), is studied experimentally using a spark-generated bubble. The expansion, collapse, rebound, re-collapse and migration of the bubble, along with jetting and protrusion, are captured using a high-speed camera. Our experimental observations reveal the behaviour of the bubble in terms of the corner angle and the dimensionless standoff distances to the near and far walls in terms of the maximum bubble radius. The bubble remains approximately spherical during expansion except for its surface becoming flattened when in close proximity to a wall. When a bubble is initiated at the bisector of the two walls, the bubble becomes oblate along the bisector during the late stages of collapse. A jet forms towards the end of collapse, pointing to the corner. The closer the bubble to the two walls, the more oblate along the bisector the bubble becomes, and the wider the jet. A bubble initiated near one of the two walls is mainly influenced by the nearer wall. The jet formed is pointing to the near wall but inclined towards the corner. After the jet penetrates through the bubble surface, the bubble becomes a bubble ring, and a bubble protrusion forms following the jet. The bubble ring collapses and subsequently disappears, while the protrusion firstly expands, and then collapses and migrates to the corner.     

Anisotropic origin of the bending instability of the flux-antiflux interface in type-II superconductors

The physical nature of the macroturbulence in vortex matter in YBCO superconductors is investigated by means of a magneto-optic study of the instability in a single crystal prepared especially for this purpose. The instability develops near those sample edges where the oppositely directed flow of vortices and antivortices, guided by twin boundaries, is characterized by the discontinuity of the tangential component of the hydrodynamic velocity. This fact indicates that the macroturbulence is analogous to the instability of fluid flow at a surface of a tangential velocity discontinuity in classical hydrodynamics and is related to the anisotropic flux motion in the superconductor.     

重构核粒子法对光滑粒子法的改进效果

光滑粒子法通过核函数进行近似估计,在计算域边界附近,核估计的精度明显下降.重构核粒子法通过校正函数对核函数进行重新构造,提高核估计方法在边界点和内点上对函数的估计精度以及计算的稳定性.研究发现,虽然校正函数的构造立足于对函数的精确估计,但这个优势同样能在对导数的估计中继续保持.通过理论研究及数学、物理模型的模拟,展示重构核粒子法的改进效果,揭示其能够提高精度的原因.     

Screened hydrodynamic interaction in a narrow channel

We study experimentally and theoretically the hydrodynamic coupling between Brownian colloidal particles diffusing along a linear channel. The quasi-one-dimensional confinement, unlike other constrained geometries, leads to a sharply screened interaction. Consequently, particles move in concert only when their mutual distance is smaller than the channel width, and two-body interactions remain dominant up to high particle densities. The coupling in a cylindrical channel is predicted to reverse sign at a certain distance, yet this unusual effect is too small to be currently detectable.     

Effect of the gas flow geometry and turbulence on the hydrodynamic drag of a body in the flow

The effect of the incoming flow geometry on the hydrodynamic drag of a body is investigated in a numerical experiment simulating a free gas flow past a sphere as well as flows in cylindrical tubes of various radii, in a confuser, and a diffuser. The results of calculations lead to the conclusion that the confinement of the flow by the tube walls, its contraction and expansion may change the hydrodynamic force and the drag acting on the body insignificantly (not more than by 30%). This cannot explain the early drag crisis, in which the values of these quantities decrease by 4–7 times for Reynolds numbers on the order of 100. This phenomenon is explained theoretically by the effect of strong turbulence of the incoming flow to the body.