Laminar flow past the bottom with obstacles – a suspension approximation

Abstract

Abstract From Albert Einstein’s study (1905) it is known that suspension introduced to a fluid modifies its viscosity. We propose to describe the influence of obstacles on the Stokesian flow as a such modification. Hence, we treat the fluid flow through small obstacles as a flow with suspension. The flow is developing past the plane bottom under the gravity force. The spatial distribution of suspension concentration is treated as given, and is regarded as an approximation of different obstacles which modify the fluid flow and change its viscosity. The different densities of suspension are considered, beginning of small suspension concentration until 40%. The influence of suspension concentration on fluid viscosity is analyzed, and Brinkman’s formula as fitting best to experimental data is applied.