Prediction of shear-thickening of particle suspensions in viscoelastic fluids by direct numerical simulation

Yuki Matsuoka; Yasuya Nakayama; Toshihisa Kajiwara

doi:10.1017/jfm.2021.5

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arXiv · 2109.08300

Prediction of shear-thickening of particle suspensions in viscoelastic fluids by direct numerical simulation

Yuki Matsuoka·Yasuya Nakayama·Toshihisa Kajiwara

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Abstract

To elucidate the key factor for the quantitative prediction of the shear-thickening in suspensions in viscoelastic fluids, direct numerical simulations of many-particle suspensions in a multi-mode Oldroyd-B fluid are performed using the smoothed profile method. Suspension flow under simple shear flow is solved under periodic boundary conditions by using Lees--Edwards boundary conditions for particle dynamics and a time-dependent oblique coordinate system that evolves with mean shear flow for fluid dynamics. Semi-dilute many-particle suspensions up to a particle volume fraction of 0.1 are investigated. The presented numerical results regarding the bulk rheological properties of the shear-thickening behavior agree quantitatively with recent experimental results of semi-dilute suspensions in a Boger fluid. The presented result clarifies that an accurate estimation of the first normal stress difference of the matrix in the shear-rate range where the shear-thickening starts to occur is crucial for the quantitative prediction of the suspension shear-thickening in a Boger fluid matrix at around the Weissenberg number $\rm{Wi}=1$ by an Oldroyd-B model. Additionally, the effect of suspension microstructures on the suspension viscosity is examined. The paper concludes with a discussion on how the flow pattern and the elastic stress development change with the volume fraction and Weissenberg number.

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Yuki Matsuoka, Yasuya Nakayama, Toshihisa Kajiwara. 2021-09-17. Prediction of shear-thickening of particle suspensions in viscoelastic fluids by direct numerical simulation. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.5

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