Flow of non-newtonian particulate suspension with a compressible particle phase

Continuum equations for a two-phase fluid-particle flow are developed and applied to the problem of steady, laminar flow over an infinite porous flat plate. Both phases are assumed to behave as non-Newtonian power-law fluids. The effects of particle-particle interaction and diffusion of particles are taken into account in the mathematical model. In addition, the particle phase is assumed to have a non-uniform density distribution. The resulting governing equations are nondimensionalized and solved numerically subject to appropriate boundary conditions using an iterative, implicit finite-difference method. Graphical results for the displacement thicknesses and the skin-friction coefficients for both the fluid and particle phases are presented and discussed to elucidate interesting features of the solutions.