Drag exerted by a micropolar fluid on a dense swarm of permeable spherical particles

This work elucidates the slow steady axisymmetric flow of an incompressible non-Newtonian micropolar fluid around and through the swarm of permeable spherical particles in cell using cell model technique. The inner particle in the cell is assumed to be permeable and the outer to be fictitious. The stream function solutions of Stokes equation are obtained for the flow fields. The problem is solved analytically for two models: Kuwabara and Kvashnin. The numerical results for the pressure distribution, microrotation components, drag force experienced by each permeable sphere, flow rate through the permeable surface and wall correction factor are obtained explicitly for both model and their variation with respect to different fluid parameters are presented graphically and discussed. Some previous results for the drag force have been verified. We have concluded that drag force, flow rate and wall correction factor are greater for the case of Kuwabara as compared to Kvashnin cell model.

Automated summary

This study investigates the slow steady axisymmetric flow of an incompressible non-Newtonian micropolar fluid around and through a swarm of permeable spherical particles in a cell using a cell model technique. Analytical solutions for the flow fields are obtained using the stream function solutions of Stokes equation. The numerical results show the pressure distribution, microrotation components, drag force, flow rate, and wall correction factor, and their variations with different fluid parameters are presented and discussed. The drag force, flow rate, and wall correction factor are found to be greater in the Kuwabara model compared to the Kvashnin model.