Squeeze flow of a Maxwell fluid between a sphere and a plate

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the squeeze flow behavior of an upper-convected Maxwell fluid between a sphere and a plate. Based on the Newtonian fluid velocity field, we use the perturbation method to derive analytical expressions for the pressure distribution and normal squeeze force of the sphere–plate squeeze flow, which can be implemented into the contact model for the discrete element simulation of a wet particle system with a Maxwell fluid. Additionally, the sphere–plate case investigated in this paper can be easily transformed into both the plate–plate and sphere–sphere cases, forming a set of complete contact force models with these two cases, thus offering a wider applicability.