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arXiv · 0706.2820

The wall shear rate distribution for flow in random sphere packings

Patrick B. Warren·Frantisek Stepanek
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Abstract

The wall shear rate distribution P(gamma) is investigated for pressure-driven Stokes flow through random arrangements of spheres at packing fractions 0.1 <= phi <= 0.64. For dense packings, P(gamma) is monotonic and approximately exponential. As phi --> 0.1, P(gamma) picks up additional structure which corresponds to the flow around isolated spheres, for which an exact result can be obtained. A simple expression for the mean wall shear rate is presented, based on a force-balance argument.

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Patrick B. Warren, Frantisek Stepanek. 2007-10-22. The wall shear rate distribution for flow in random sphere packings. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.100.084501

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