Particle-resolved simulations of solid-liquid systems

Solid-liquid flows span a large parameter space, with dimensionless coordinates such as Stokes numbers, the solids volume fraction, the density ratio between the phases, and Reynolds numbers (e.g. associated with the continuous phase flow). We are interested in systems with appreciable inertia effects—i.e. non-zero Stokes and Reynolds numbers—having density ratios of the order of one and solids volume fractions of at least 0.1. In such flows, direct numerical simulations are desired to reveal the relevant interactions. The resolution required for DNS limits the size of the systems that we are able to simulate to the meso-scale. In this paper, examples of direct simulations based on the lattice-Boltzmann method of dense solid-liquid flows are presented, along with suggestions as to how to use their results at the macro-scale.