Hydrodynamic Interactions Among Bubbles, Drops, and Particles in Non-Newtonian Liquids

Abstract

The understanding of hydrodynamic forces around particles, drops, or bubbles moving in Newtonian liquids is modestly mature. It is possible to obtain predictions of the attractive–repulsive interaction for moving ensembles of dispersed particulate objects. There is a certain intuition of what the effects of viscous, inertial, and surface tension forces should be. When the liquid is non-Newtonian, this intuition is gone. In this review, we summarize recent efforts at gaining fundamental understanding of hydrodynamic interactions in non-Newtonian liquids. Due to the complexity of the problem, most investigations rely on experimental observations. However, computations of non-Newtonian fluid flow have made increasingly significant contributions to our understanding of particle, drop, and bubble interactions. We focus on gravity-driven flows: rise or sedimentation of single spheroidal objects, pairs, and dispersions. We identify the effects of two main rheological attributes—viscoelasticity and shear-dependent viscosity—on the interaction and potential aggregation of particles, drops, and bubbles. We end by highlighting the open questions in the subject and by suggesting future directions toward the fundamental physics as well as applications.