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Ordering of particulate suspensions in Couette flow at moderate Reynolds numbers Bell, Martin Derek

Abstract

A remarkable ordering phenomenon has been seen to occur when a suspension of particles undergoes shear at particle Reynolds numbers of the order of or greater than one in the annular gap of a Couette type shearing device. This particulate ordering was observed and studied with both suspensions of rigid spheres and suspensions of polystyrene latex aggregates formed in the presence of shear within the gap. Each of these systems was studied under a variety of initial conditions in order to define the particular flow conditions required for particle alignment to occur. It was found that particulate ordering occurred under similar conditions to those used by Segré and Silberberg (35) to observe the "necklace formations" that formed within particulate suspensions flowing inside tubes. The separations between aligned particles was found to be strongly dependent on the particle Reynolds number and the ratio between the particle diameter and the width of the annular gap. An insight into the hydrodynamic interactions occurring was provided by the comparisons made between the ordered aggregates and the ordered rigid spheres under similar flow conditions.

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