Characterization of two-way coupled thermovibrationally driven particle attractee

Abstract

Following the recent identification of a new category of thermovibrationally driven particle attractors in dilute fluid–particle systems [M. Lappa, “The patterning behaviour and accumulation of spherical particles in a vibrated non-isothermal liquid,” Phys. Fluids 26(9), 093301 (2014); M. Lappa, “On the formation and morphology of coherent particulate structures in non-isothermal enclosures subjected to rotating g-jitters,” Phys. Fluids 31(7), 073303 (2019); and M. Lappa and T. Burel, “Symmetry breaking phenomena in thermovibrationally driven particle accumulation structures,” Phys. Fluids 32(5), 053314 (2020)], some effort is provided here to develop an integrated framework able to encompass earlier discoveries and account for new effects in a single treatment. In particular, we examine the alterations (“corrugation”) that can be induced in the geometrically perfect particle structures pertaining to this class of phenomena as the percentage of dispersed solid mass is progressively increased. The related dynamics are explored within the framework of a two-way coupled model with respect to several parameters (solid mass load, density ratio, frequency, and amplitude of the imposed vibrations). Ensuing results are interpreted by separating instantaneous and time-averaged contributions and using some ideas borrowed from the companion theory of bifurcations. We show that the back influence of particles on the carrier flow can lead to a variety of possible paths of evolution. While in some cases the original attractee can be overshadowed by particle-induced turbulence, in other circumstances new aggregates with heretofore unseen morphology show up.