A DNS study of effects of particle–particle collisions and two-way coupling on particle deposition and phasic fluctuations

This study is concerned with the effects of particle–particle collisions and the two-way coupling on the dispersed and carrier phase turbulence fluctuations in a channel flow. The time history of the instantaneous turbulent velocity vector was generated by the two-way coupled direct numerical simulation of the Navier–Stokes equations via a pseudo-spectral method. The particle equation of motion included the wall-corrected nonlinear drag force and the wall-induced and shear-induced lift force. The effect of particles on the flow was included in the analysis via a feedback force that acted on the computational grid points. Several simulations for different particle relaxation times and particle mass loadings were performed, and the effects of particle–particle collisions, particle feedback force and inter-particle interactions on the particle deposition velocity, fluid and particle fluctuating velocities, and particle concentration profiles were determined. The effect of particle aerodynamic interactions was also examined for certain cases. The simulation results indicated that when particle–particle collisions were included in the computation but two-way coupling effects were ignored, the particle normal fluctuating velocity increased in the wall region causing an increase in the particle deposition velocity. When the particle collisions were neglected but the particle–fluid two-way coupling effects were accounted for, the two-way coupling and the particle normal fluctuating velocity decreased near the wall causing a decrease in the particle deposition velocity. In the case of the four-way coupling in which both inter-particle collisions and two-way coupling effects were present, it was found that the particle deposition velocity increased compared with the one-way coupling case. When the particle aerodynamic interactions were added to the four-way coupled case (termed six-way coupled case), no significant changes in the mean fluid and particle velocities and the fluid and particle fluctuating velocities were obtained. The results for the particle concentration profile indicated that the inclusion of two-way coupling or inter-particle collisions into the computation reduced the accumulation of particles near the wall. It was also observed that particle–particle collisions and two-way coupling weakened the preferential distribution of particles.