The analysis of self-diffusion and migration of rough spheres in nonlinear shear flow using a traction-corrected boundary element method

Abstract

The phenomena of self-diffusion and migration of rough spheres in nonlinear shear flows are investigated using a new traction-corrected boundary element method (TC-BEM) in which the near-field asymptotics for the traction solution in the interstitial region between two nearly touching spheres is seamlessly coupled with a traditional direct boundary element method. The TC-BEM is extremely accurate in predicting particle trajectories, and hence can be used to calculate both the particle self-diffusivity and a newly defined migration diffusivity for dilute suspensions. The migration diffusivity is a function of a nonlinearity parameter characterizing the shear flow and arises from the net displacement of the centre of gravity of particle pairs. This net displacement of the centre of gravity of particle pairs does not occur for smooth particles, nor for rough particles in a linear shear flow. An explanation is provided for why two-particle interactions of rough spheres in a nonlinear shear flow result in particle migration.