Influence of wall motion on particle sedimentation using hybrid LB-IBM scheme

Abstract

We integrate the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and immersed boundary method (IBM) to capture the coupling between a rigid boundary surface and the hydrodynamic response of an enclosed particle laden fluid. We focus on a rigid box filled with a Newtonian fluid where the drag force based on the slip velocity at the wall and settling particles induces the interaction. We impose an external harmonic oscillation on the system boundary and found interesting results in the sedimentation behavior. Our results reveal that the sedimentation and particle locations are sensitive to the boundary walls oscillation amplitude and the subsequent changes on the enclosed flow field. Two different particle distribution analyses were performed and showed the presence of an agglomerate structure of particles. Despite the increase in the amplitude of wall motion, the turbulence level of the flow field and distribution of particles are found to be less in quantity compared to the stationary walls. The integrated LBM-IBM methodology promised the prospect of an efficient and accurate dynamic coupling between a non-compliant bounding surface and flow field in a wide-range of systems. Understanding the dynamics of the fluid-filled box can be particularly important in a simulation of particle deposition within biological systems and other engineering applications.