Direct numerical simulation of multiple interacting particles at intermediate Reynolds numbers

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the flow patterns and particle-particle collisions during the sedimentation of multiple circular particles under gravity at intermediate Reynolds numbers through direct numerical simulations (DNS).

Design/methodology/approach

The previously developed lattice Boltzmann-direct forcing/fictitious domain (LB-DF/FD) method is adopted in this work to conduct DNS.

Findings

It is found that the number of particle-particle collisions display a linear growth at long times after an initial evolution, resulting in a constant collision rate, which also depends the initial arrangement.

Originality/value

The problem of particle-particle collisions during sedimentation with two kinds of particle density has not been considered before and it is of special importance in various industries.

Citation

Nie, D., Qiu, L. and Zhang, X. (2015), "Direct numerical simulation of multiple interacting particles at intermediate Reynolds numbers", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 202-213. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-04-2013-0138