International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol.25, No.5, 875-885, 1999
The longitudinal drift velocity of a sheared dilute suspension of spheres
We present the calculation of the particle drift velocity for a dilute, neutrally buoyant suspension of spheres under the action of shear when inertia and Brownian effects are negligible, resulting from the effect of an imposed concentration gradient. Using a renormalization technique employed previously, we found that the particle drift velocity [U] is proportional to the concentration gradient del phi through the relation [U] = beta alpha(2)E.del phi + O(phi del phi), where a is the radius of the spheres and E is the fluid rate of strain, while beta is an O(1) constant that depends on the angular velocity of the fluid flow. In particular, beta=2.40 for simple shear flow, and beta=3.12 for pure straining flow. Finally, combining the expression of the drift velocity with that of the self-diffusivity, we determined the shear-induced particle volumetric flux and cross gradient diffusivity for the case of simple shear flow.