Paper Number
CC7 

Session
Confined and Coupled Systems

Title
Flow of particulate suspensions in the 4:1 microcontraction channel: A simulation study

Presentation Date and Time
October 7, 2014 (Tuesday) 1:55

Track / Room
Track 6 / Washington C

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

1. Ahn, Kyung Hyun (Seoul National University, School of Chemical and Biological Enigneering)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Kyung Hyun Ahn
School of Chemical and Biological Enigneering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Speaker / Presenter 
Ahn, Kyung Hyun

Text of Abstract
The microchannel flow of complex fluids has drawn wide attention due to possible applications to high end technologies. But its physics has rarely been understood due to the difficulties in getting the microstructural change of the complex fluids during the flow in confined complex geometries. To understand the characteristics of these complex flows, we studied the dynamics of weakly aggregating particle suspensions in three dimensional 4:1 contraction flow using the self-consistent particle simulation method. We observed heterogeneous cluster formation and analyzed it in terms of the competition between flow and interparticle forces. In addition, spatio-temporal fluctuation which originates from the microstructural change and its interaction with the flow was observed. The fluctuation was complex with no characteristic periodicity or pattern. Heterogeneous structure formation and spatio-temporal fluctuation were found to be the main factors that characterize the complex flow of the particulate suspensions in the micro-contraction channel flow.