Simulations for the flow of viscoplastic fluids in a cavity driven by the movement of walls by Lattice Boltzmann Method

Abstract

The current paper is focused on analyzing the flow of viscoplastic fluid in a cavity that is driven by the two walls. The Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to solve the discrete Boltzmann equation. To represent the stress-strain rate relationship of viscoplastic fluids, the Bingham Papanastasiou constitutive model is considered. Cavity flow filled with Bingham fluids is considered for validating the present LBM code. After successful validation of the code, the analysis is extended for three dissimilar wall motions-simultaneous and opposed movement of the parallel facing walls, and the simultaneous motion of non-facing walls. The flow dynamics of Bingham fluid is influenced by Reynolds and Bingham numbers which can be studied using velocity and streamline plots. Subsequently, the yielded and un-yielded zones in a cavity have been effectively tracked using the limiting condition of yield stress. Further, the effect of wall motion on the variation of those zones inside a cavity has been studied. Finally, the drag coefficient for considered wall motions is presented.