Hydrodynamic and mechanical behavior of multi-particle confined between two parallel plates

A coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) approach is used to investigate the hydrodynamic and mechanical behavior of multi-particle, which settle and horizontally transport between two parallel plates. The particle-fluid interaction is two-way coupled, while inter-particle and particles-walls interactions are calculated based on the soft-sphere model. The Joint Roughness Coefficient (JRC) is used to represent the roughness of planar walls, and its effect on particle transport is quantitatively studied. When particles transport between two parallel smooth plates, the planar walls exert extra hydrodynamic retardation, which causes particle transport velocity to decrease with the decrease in the aperture between two plates. In contrast, when particles transport between two parallel rough plates, due to frequent interaction between particles, the mechanical interaction-induced retardation starts to work and further decreases particle transport velocity. Particle longitudinal migration is frequent because of inter-particle interaction, which hinders its transverse transport and even causes particle agglomeration in a duct during horizontal transport. In addition, the mechanical retardation is significantly dependent of particle transport regimes, and its effect gradually increases and changes to be dominant at high particle Reynold number regime.