Excess shear force exerted on oscillating plate due to a nearby particle

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the excess shear force exerted on an oscillating plate by a nearby particle, relevant for improving interpretation of Quartz Crystal Microbalance measurements in the presence of suspended particles.

Contribution

It introduces a series solution for the shear force due to a particle near an oscillating plate, considering different particle motion scenarios, and demonstrates the significance of hydrodynamic effects in impedance measurements.

Findings

Series solution matches numerical results well

Hydrodynamic effects are significant in impedance analysis

Analysis applicable to various particle motion states

Abstract

In the present paper we theoretically study the shear force exerted on an infinite horizontal plane undergoing fast lateral oscillations in presence of a rigid particle suspended in the viscous liquid above the plate. The study is largely motivated by Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM-D) technique which relies on analyzing response (complex impedance) of fast oscillating (in MHz range) quartz crystal disk in the liquid medium due to small substances adsorbed at its surface. In fact, small substances suspended in the liquid medium in the vicinity of the oscillating crystal may also contribute to impedance, as they modify the local shear force the suspending liquid exerts on the quartz crystal. For a dilute suspension the contributions of individual particles are additive and, therefore, our analysis is restricted to the excess shear force due a single spherical particle located at arbitrary distance above the plane. Three distinct cases are considered: (i) limiting case of high solid inertia, whereas the heavy particle can be considered as stationary; (ii) a freely suspended particle of arbitrary mass, undergoing fluid-mediated time-periodic rotation and translation and (iii) an adsorbed particle moving with the plate as a whole without rotation. For small-amplitude plane oscillations the unsteady Stokes flow equations apply. We construct the series solution of these equations using the method of reflections, whereas its terms are written explicitly. Due to the exponential decay of the flow away from the oscillating plate, the truncated series containing only few low-order terms shows an excellent agreement with the rigorous numerical results for a wide range of particle sizes and separation distances. The present results support the notion that the hydrodynamic contribution of the suspended small substances to the measured impedance is non-negligible or even dominant.