Particle settling in a shear-thinning, viscoelastic fluid in the presence of wall effects.

ABSTRACT: The settling of particles in fluids is a widespread phenomenon and commonly involves accounting for the effects of walls. Particle settling and wall effects are well understood for Newtonian fluids but the consequences of non-Newtonian fluid properties on particle settling are less well known. Here, we present the results from a set of experiments quantifying wall effects on particle settling within quiescent shear-thinning and viscoelastic (non-Newtonian) fluids for sphere-to-tube diameter ratios λ≤0.3 . We find that wall effects on particle settling are reduced in non-Newtonian fluids and settling velocities are poorly predicted by conventional wall-corrected Stokes' equations. We show that deviations in settling velocity are due to both the shear-thinning and viscoelastic properties of

SUBMITTER: Whorton J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11802780 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature