Inertial effects in shear flow of a fluid-particle mixture: Resolved simulations

Abstract

We conduct resolved simulations of spherical particles suspended in a light fluid in shear flow with a ratio of particle to fluid density in the range of 2.5 to 10 and a focus on inertial rather than gravitational effects. Particle volume fractions range from 5% to 33% and particle Reynolds numbers ($R\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}{e}_{p}$) of 20 and 40 are examined. Significant effects are found due to the memory of the particles earlier motion related to inertia including on collision rates, momentum transfers, and stress differences. We find that increasing the particle density has similar effects to increasing $R\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}{e}_{p}$.