Direct numerical simulation of fluid/solid particles flow inside a channel

Abstract

The modeling of moving solid particles in fluid flow has been the focus of many studies and has succeeded to attract significant attention from researchers. However, commonly used modeling approaches such as discrete element modeling (DEM) and direct numerical simulations (DNS) lack simplicity and have been computationally intensive. The aim of this paper is to develop a new approach to simulate solid transport in an incompressible Newtonian fluid flow. This method is based on the Finite element method with penalization of the deformation tensor. The fluid behavior is governed by the Navier-Stokes equations within the investigation domain. To take into account collisions, we present an algorithm which allows us to handle contacts between rigid particles. In this paper, 2D fluid/particles flow simulations are performed; the results are validated by comparison with results from other methods. We attempt to simulate the conveying of solid particles behavior of circular particles in a fluid flow inside a pipe. The numerical tests show that the present method provides a very efficient approach to directly simulate the solid transport inside the channels.

Keywords:

• Numerical simulation
• Newtonian fluid/particles
• contact handling
• FreeFem++
• penalty method

Acknowledgments

The Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research’s General Directorate of Scientific Research and Technological Development (DGRSDT) is highly appreciated in our research program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).