Numerical study of the wall effect on particle sedimentation. Issue 2 (16th March 2018) - Tsai, Liang-Hsia
ABSTRACT: In this article, we investigate the abnormal settling of two-disk systems and elliptical shaped particles in infinite two-dimensional channels filled with an incompressible viscous fluid. We apply a distributed Lagrange multiplier/fictitious domain method (DLM/FDM) for the direct numerical simulation of these particulate flows. Due to the wall effect, the two-disk systems can form chains which settle stably instead of having the particles moving apart. Also, sedimentation with the long axis moving to vertical positions in the middle of the infinite channel has been observed for the elliptic shaped particles. The critical Reynolds number for having such an abnormal settling behaviour decreases as the width of the channel increases.