Accurate lubrication corrections for spherical and non-spherical particles in discretized fluid simulations

Abstract

Discretized fluid solvers coupled to a Newtonian dynamics method are a popular tool to study suspension flow. As any simulation technique with finite resolution, the lattice Boltzmann method, when coupled to discrete particles using the momentum exchange method, resolves the diverging lubrication interactions between surfaces near contact only insufficiently. For spheres, it is common practice to account for surface-normal lubrication forces by means of an explicit correction term. A method that additionally covers all further singular interactions for spheres is present in the literature as well as a link-based approach that allows for more general shapes but does not capture non-normal interactions correctly. In this paper, lattice-independent lubrication corrections for aspherical particles are outlined, taking into account all leading divergent interaction terms. An efficient implementation for arbitrary spheroids is presented and compared to purely normal and link-based models. Good consistency with Stokesian dynamics simulations of spheres is found. The non-normal interactions affect the viscosity of suspensions of spheres at volume fractions Φ>= 0.3 but already at Φ>= 0.2 for spheroids. Regarding shear-induced diffusion of spheres, a distinct effect is found at 0.1 <= Φ<= 0.5 and even increasing the resolution of the radius to 8 lattice units is no substitute for an accurate modeling of non-normal interactions.