Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2601.20040

Mechanisms of particle entrainment in confined gas-particle systems under moving boundaries

Abstract

Particle entrainment in confined gas-particle systems driven by moving boundaries is central to many industrial and natural processes, including pharmaceutical manufacturing, food processing, and chemical engineering. Although often termed a "suction effect," its physical origin remains unclear, especially under unsteady flow, strong particle interactions, and transient force networks. Here we study suction-induced entrainment in a prototypical confined system using high-fidelity coupled CFD-DEM simulations resolving unsteady gas flow and discrete particle motion with moving boundaries. By decomposing the forces on individual particles, we show that suction is not purely pressure-driven, but results from the combined action of pressure-gradient and unsteady drag forces generated by boundary-accelerated flow. Despite the heterogeneous and transient force fields, the final entrained mass is found to be governed primarily by a single energetic measure: the mechanical work performed on the particle assembly in the entrainment direction during boundary motion, rather than by peak instantaneous forces. Varying boundary kinematics demonstrates that changes in displacement or velocity history control entrainment mainly by modifying the duration over which fluid-particle forces perform work. These results reveal an organizing principle for suction-driven entrainment and establish a work-based framework for boundary-induced particle transport in confined gas-particle systems.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Arata Hashimoto, Ryosuke Mitani, Toshiki Imatani, Mikio Sakai. 2026-01-27. Mechanisms of particle entrainment in confined gas-particle systems under moving boundaries. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20040

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Splashing-regime transitions and secondary-droplet scaling in oblique drop impacts on a deep pool

Oblique drop impact onto a deep liquid pool produces asymmetric crowns, directional jetting, and splashing transitions that cannot be characterized by the total impact inertia alone. We numerically investigate water drops impacting a quiescent deep pool over $41\leq We\leq1790$ and $10^\circ\leqθ\leq90^\circ$. The simulations reproduce the principal features observed experimentally and identify five post-impact regimes in the $We$--$θ$ plane: deposition, front splashing, side splashing, side-front splashing, and crown splashing. The deposition--front-splashing transition is described by the tangential-inertial parameter $K_s=We\cosθ$, with $K_s^c\approx120$. This criterion follows from the competition between downstream crown-rim inertia and capillary retraction at the Taylor--Culick velocity. The transition from front to side-front splashing is instead governed primarily by normal impact inertia, with a critical normal Weber number $We_N^c\approx318$. Beyond these regime transitions, the secondary-droplet statistics reveal fragmentation behavior common to the different splashing regimes. The droplet-size distributions are positively skewed, and the median diameter follows $d_{s,\mathrm{med}}/D\sim We^{-3/5}$. Second-order velocity structure functions support a scale-dependent capillary--inertial description of rim and ligament breakup. Combined with mass conservation, this scaling gives $N_s\sim We^{9/5}$, providing a numerical explanation for the secondary-droplet-number scaling observed experimentally. Thus, directional impact inertia governs the macroscopic selection of splashing regimes, whereas the secondary-droplet populations across these regimes exhibit a common capillary--inertial fragmentation scaling.

physics.flu-dyn

Hydrodynamic Resistance on Oscillating Planar Interfacial Bodies

We study the unsteady dynamics of floating planar bodies undergoing lateral oscillations along an air--water interface. Scaling arguments indicate that when the viscous penetration depth and oscillation amplitude are both small compared to the body size, the flow beneath the body can be approximated by an oscillatory Stokes boundary layer, yielding a leading-order description of the hydrodynamic resistance. Using magnetic actuation, we drive the interfacial bodies harmonically and measure the amplitude response and phase lag in steady state over a range of frequencies, masses, sizes, and shapes. This frequency-response framework enables direct extraction of effective added mass and damping coefficients, which we find to be consistent with oscillatory boundary-layer theory in the limit of small interfacial deformation. The transient behavior during startup is also shown to be accurately predicted by a history integral that captures the development of the oscillatory boundary layer beneath the body. This work also establishes a simple experimental platform for quantifying unsteady hydrodynamic forces at fluid interfaces.

physics.flu-dyn

Perturbation Theory for Translating Oblate-Spheroidal Droplets with Internal Circulation

Liquid droplets deform from spherical shape due to aerodynamic variation of pressure along the surface as the droplet moves through a gas. The deformation is predicted for axisymmetric droplets translating through a gas with low Weber numbers, We < 1, and Reynolds number Re = O(10). That deformation analysis is based on the relations between local pressure jump and the two radii of curvature. A thin boundary layer on both sides of the gas-liquid interface is considered with a surface-velocity jump due to pressure-gradient-driven flow with a large density jump and a pressure jump due to surface tension. A near-ellipsoidal shape is predicted using $We$ as a perturbation parameter. Then, the quasi-steady internal liquid-phase stream function and velocity field are predicted, describing internal circulation and a vortex ring structure with vorticity distributed through an inviscid liquid. The gas-phase flow over the oblate droplet is described using a ring doublet as an image within the droplet. The ring-doublet radius is related to We. Gas potential flow results are presented and compared using both the exact analytical solution and a perturbation analysis based on the square root of We. The perturbation analysis provides a lower computational cost. Three analyses for local curvature, liquid circulation, and gas potential flow are matched to yield the velocity and pressure fields. The appropriate radius for the image ring doublet is matched to the square root of We. Liquid-phase stream function, two velocity components in each fluid, and gas potential field are predicted. S Some comments on droplet drag are presented.

physics.flu-dyn