Direct Simulation of Electrorheological Suspensions

Author(s):  
Aijun Wang ◽  
Pushpendra Singh ◽  
Nadine Aubry

Abstract A new distributed multiplier/fictitious (DLM) domain method is developed for direct simulation of electrorheological (ER) suspensions subjected to spatially uniform electrical fields. The method is implemented both in two and three dimensions. The fluid-particle system is treated implicitly using the combined weak formulation described in [1,2]. The governing Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid are solved everywhere, including the interior of the particles. The flow inside the particles is forced to be a rigid body motion by a distribution of Lagrange multipliers. The electrostatic force acting on the polarized spherical particles is modeled based on the point-dipole approximation. Using our code we have studied the time evolution of particle-scale structures of ER suspensions in channels subjected to the pressure driven flow. In our study, the flow direction is perpendicular to that of the electric field. Simulations show that when the hydrodynamic force is zero, or very small compared to the electrostatic force, the particles form chains that are aligned approximately parallel to the direction of electric field. But, when the magnitude of hydrodynamic force is comparable to that of the electrostatic force the particle chains orient at an angle with the direction of the electric field. The angle between the particle chain and the direction of the electric field depends on the relative strengths of the hydrodynamic and electrostatic forces.

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kadaksham ◽  
P. Singh ◽  
N. Aubry

A numerical method based on the distributed Lagrange Multiplier method (DLM) [2,8] is developed for direct simulations of electrorheological (ER) liquids subjected to spatially varying electric fields. The flow inside particle boundaries is constrained to be rigid body motion by the distributed Lagrange multiplier method. The point-dipole approximation [6] is used to model the electrostatic forces acting on the polarized particles. The code is verified by performing a convergence study that shows that the results are independent of mesh and time step sizes. In a spatially nonuniform electric field the particles move to the regions where the magnitude of electric field is locally maximum when the particle permittivity is greater than that of the liquid. On the other hand, when the particle permittivity is smaller than that of the liquid the particles move to the regions of local minimum of electric field.


Author(s):  
Edison C. Amah ◽  
Pushpendra Singh ◽  
Mohammad Janjua

A numerical scheme is developed to simulate the motion of dielectric particles in uniform and nonuniform electric fields of a micro fluidic device. The particles are moved using a direct simulation scheme in which the fundamental equations of motion of fluid and solid particles are solved without the use of models. The motion of particles is tracked using a distributed Lagrange multiplier method (DLM) and the electric force acting on the particles is calculated by integrating the Maxwell stress tensor (MST) over the particle surfaces. One of the key features of the DLM method is that the fluid-particle system is treated implicitly by using a combined weak formulation where the forces and moments between the particles and fluid cancel, as they are internal to the combined system. The MST is obtained from the electric potential, which, in turn, is obtained by solving the electrostatic problem. In our numerical scheme the Marchuk-Yanenko operator-splitting technique is used to decouple the difficulties associated with the incompressibility constraint, the nonlinear convection term, the rigid-body motion constraint and the electric force term. A comparison of the DNS results with those from the point-dipole approximation shows that the accuracy of the latter diminishes when the distance between the particles becomes comparable to the particle diameter; the domain size is comparable to the diameter; and also when the dielectric mismatch between the fluid and particles is relatively large.


Author(s):  
S. G. Rajeev

The initial value problem of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations is explained. Leray’s classic study of it (using Picard iteration) is simplified and described in the language of physics. The ideas of Lebesgue and Sobolev norms are explained. The L2 norm being the energy, cannot increase. This gives sufficient control to establish existence, regularity and uniqueness in two-dimensional flow. The L3 norm is not guaranteed to decrease, so this strategy fails in three dimensions. Leray’s proof of regularity for a finite time is outlined. His attempts to construct a scale-invariant singular solution, and modern work showing this is impossible, are then explained. The physical consequences of a negative answer to the regularity of Navier–Stokes solutions are explained. This chapter is meant as an introduction, for physicists, to a difficult field of analysis.


1998 ◽  
Vol 371 ◽  
pp. 207-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. VITTORI ◽  
R. VERZICCO

Numerical simulations of Navier–Stokes equations are performed to study the flow originated by an oscillating pressure gradient close to a wall characterized by small imperfections. The scenario of transition from the laminar to the turbulent regime is investigated and the results are interpreted in the light of existing analytical theories. The ‘disturbed-laminar’ and the ‘intermittently turbulent’ regimes detected experimentally are reproduced by the present simulations. Moreover it is found that imperfections of the wall are of fundamental importance in causing the growth of two-dimensional disturbances which in turn trigger turbulence in the Stokes boundary layer. Finally, in the intermittently turbulent regime, a description is given of the temporal development of turbulence characteristics.


Author(s):  
Muheng Zhang ◽  
Yongsheng Lian

Coulter counters are analytical microfluidic instrument used to measure the size and concentration of biological cells or colloid particles suspended in electrolyte. The underlying working mechanism of Coulter counters is the Coulter principle which relies on the fact that when low-conductive cells pass through an electric field these cells cause disturbances in the measurement (current or voltage). Useful information about these cells can be obtained by analyzing these disturbances if an accurate correlation between the measured disturbances and cell characteristics. In this paper we use computational fluid dynamics method to investigate this correlation. The flow field is described by solving the Navier-Stokes equations, the electric field is represented by a Laplace’s equation in which the conductivity is calculated from the Navier-Stokes equations, and the cell motion is calculated by solving the equations of motion. The accuracy of the code is validated by comparing with analytical solutions. The study is based on a coplanar Coulter counter with three inlets that consist of two sheath flow inlet and one conductive flow inlet. The effects of diffusivity, cell size, sheath flow rate, and cell geometry are discussed in details. The impacts of electrode size, gap between electrodes and electrode location on the measured distribution are also studied.


Author(s):  
Nadine Aubry ◽  
Pushpendra Singh

The objective of this paper is to study the dependence of the electrostatic force that act on a particle within the interface between two immiscible fluids on the parameters such as the dielectric properties of the fluids and particles, the particle’s position within the interface, and the electric field strength. It is shown that the component of electrostatic force normal to the interface varies as a2, where a is the particle radius, and since in equilibrium it is balanced by the vertical capillary force, the interfacial deformation caused by the particle changes when an external electric field is applied. In addition, there are lateral electrostatic forces among the particles due to the dipole-dipole interactions which, when the distance between two particles is O(a), vary as a2, and remain significant for submicron sized particles.


2009 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLAS PÉRINET ◽  
DAMIR JURIC ◽  
LAURETTE S. TUCKERMAN

We simulate numerically the full dynamics of Faraday waves in three dimensions for two incompressible and immiscible viscous fluids. The Navier–Stokes equations are solved using a finite-difference projection method coupled with a front-tracking method for the interface between the two fluids. The critical accelerations and wavenumbers, as well as the temporal behaviour at onset are compared with the results of the linear Floquet analysis of Kumar & Tuckerman (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 279, 1994, p. 49). The finite-amplitude results are compared with the experiments of Kityk et al (Phys. Rev. E, vol. 72, 2005, p. 036209). In particular, we reproduce the detailed spatio-temporal spectrum of both square and hexagonal patterns within experimental uncertainty. We present the first calculations of a three-dimensional velocity field arising from the Faraday instability for a hexagonal pattern as it varies over its oscillation period.


Author(s):  
Fangrong Hu ◽  
Jun Yao ◽  
Chuankai Qiu ◽  
Dajia Wang

In this paper, a MEMS mirror actuated by an electrostatic repulsive force has been proposed and analyzed. The mirror consists of four U-shape springs, a fixed bottom electrode and a movable top electrode, there are many comb fingers on the edges of both electrodes. When the voltage is applied to the top and bottom electrodes, an asymmetric electric field is generated to the top movable fingers and springs, thus a net electrostatic force is produced to move the top plate out of plane. This designed micro-mirror is different from conventional MDM based on electrostatic-attractive-force, which is restricted by one-third thickness of the sacrificial layer for the pull-in phenomenon. The characteristic of this MDM has been analyzed, the result shows that the resonant frequency of the first mode is 8 kHz, and the stroke reaches 10μm at 200V, a MDM with large strokes can be realized for the application of adaptive optics in optical aberrations correction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 715 ◽  
pp. 32-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihao Zhao ◽  
Helge I. Andersson ◽  
Jurriaan J. J. Gillissen

AbstractTransfer of mechanical energy between solid spherical particles and a Newtonian carrier fluid has been explored in two-way coupled direct numerical simulations of turbulent channel flow. The inertial particles have been treated as individual point particles in a Lagrangian framework and their feedback on the fluid phase has been incorporated in the Navier–Stokes equations. At sufficiently large particle response times the Reynolds shear stress and the turbulence intensities in the spanwise and wall-normal directions were attenuated whereas the velocity fluctuations were augmented in the streamwise direction. The physical mechanisms involved in the particle–fluid interactions were analysed in detail, and it was observed that the fluid transferred energy to the particles in the core region of the channel whereas the fluid received kinetic energy from the particles in the wall region. A local imbalance in the work performed by the particles on the fluid and the work exerted by the fluid on the particles was observed. This imbalance gave rise to a particle-induced energy dissipation which represents a loss of mechanical energy from the fluid–particle suspension. An independent examination of the work associated with the different directional components of the Stokes force revealed that the dominating energy transfer was associated with the streamwise component. Both the mean and fluctuating parts of the Stokes force promoted streamwise fluctuations in the near-wall region. The kinetic energy associated with the cross-sectional velocity components was damped due to work done by the particles, and the energy was dissipated rather than recovered as particle kinetic energy. Componentwise scatter plots of the instantaneous velocity versus the instantaneous slip-velocity provided further insight into the energy transfer mechanisms, and the observed modulations of the flow field could thereby be explained.


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