Implementation of Lees-Edwards periodic boundary conditions for direct numerical simulations of particle dispersions under shear flow

摘要

A general methodology is presented to perform direct numerical simulations ofparticle dispersions in a shear flow with Lees-Edwards periodic boundaryconditions. The Navier-Stokes equation is solved in oblique coordinates toresolve the incompatibility of the fluid motions with the sheared geometry, andthe force coupling between colloidal particles and the host fluid is imposed byusing a smoothed profile method. The validity of the method is carefullyexamined by comparing the present numerical results with experimental viscositydata for particle dispersions in a wide range of volume fractions and shearrates including nonlinear shear-thinning regimes.