Experimental Investigation on the Motion of Particle Cloud in Viscous Fluids

Abstract

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the dynamics of particle clouds in viscous fluids. Different shapes of frontal head and trailing stems were observed, and particle clouds were classified using data mining methodology. The stability of the frontal head of particle clouds was found to be correlated with the nozzle diameter and mass of sand particles in the form of an initial aspect ratio. The formation of particle clusters into a torus and the split of the frontal head into two or three clusters were investigated in detail. The cluster of particles flow through viscous fluid experienced partial separation due to the release of air bubbles from the rear of frontal head. It was observed that the time and location of major particle separation increase linearly with the aspect ratio. The oscillatory motion of the frontal head, caused by an uneven release of air bubbles from the rear of the frontal head, was found to be correlated with the initial aspect ratio. Both amplitude and wavelength exhibited a linear relationship with nondimensional time. The average drag coefficient of particle clouds Cd in viscous fluids was calculated for different aspect ratios, and the results were compared with the drag coefficient of individual particles. It was found that the averaged drag coefficients of particle clouds were smaller than the drag coefficient of individual particles, and Cd slightly increases with the increasing initial aspect ratio.