The Clustering Instability in Rapid Granular and Gas-Solid Flows

Abstract

Flows of solid particles are known to exhibit a clustering instability—dynamic microstructures characterized by a dense region of highly concentrated particles surrounded by a dilute region with relatively few particles—that has no counterpart in molecular fluids. Clustering is pervasive in rapid flows. Its presence impacts momentum, heat, and mass transfer, analogous to how turbulence affects single-phase flows. Yet predicting clustering is challenging, again analogous to the prediction of turbulent flows. In this review, we focus on three key areas: (a) state-of-the-art mathematical tools used to study clustering, with an emphasis on kinetic theory–based continuum models, which are critical to the prediction of the larger systems found in nature and industry, (b) mechanisms that give rise to clustering, most of which are explained via linear stability analyses of kinetic theory–based models, and (c) a critical review of validation studies of kinetic theory–based models to highlight the accuracies and limitations of such theories.