Spherical Particle Migration Evaluation in Low Reynolds Number Couette Flow Using Smooth Profile Method

An Eulerian–Lagrangian model is developed to investigate the solid particle migration in low Reynolds number shear flows between two parallel plates. A continuous kernel function with a predefined thickness is applied in the implemented numerical model to smooth the discontinuity at the interface between primary and secondary phases. At each time step, the solid particle’s rotation and displacement are calculated to directly capture the interaction between the solid particle and primary liquid phase without simplification. Solution verification is performed using the global deviation grid convergence index approach. The observed order of accuracy for the primary phase solver approaches 2, consistent with the formal order of accuracy of the applied discretization scheme. The obtained velocity profiles from the implemented numerical approach show a good agreement with the analytical solution, confirming the single-phase flow solver’s reliability. The obtained numerical results from the applied Eulerian–Lagrangian multiphase model are also compared with experimental data from a linear shear flow apparatus with suspended buoyant particles, and good agreement was found.