Role of the constriction angle on the clogging by bridging of suspensions of particles

TL;DR

This study examines how the angle of a constriction in a channel affects the likelihood of particle suspension clogging, revealing that smaller angles reduce clogging, especially in dense suspensions, with implications for fluidic system design.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how the constriction angle influences clogging behavior in suspensions, highlighting differences between semi-dilute and dense regimes.

Findings

Clogging probability decreases with smaller constriction angles.

Dense suspensions are more sensitive to angle changes than semi-dilute suspensions.

Flow profile and arch formation explain the observed differences.

Abstract

Confined flows of particles can lead to clogging, and therefore failure, of various fluidic systems across many applications. As a result, design guidelines need to be developed to ensure that clogging is prevented or at least delayed. In this Letter, we investigate the influence of the angle of reduction in the cross-section of the channel on the bridging of semi-dilute and dense non-Brownian suspensions of spherical particles. We observe a decrease of the clogging probability with the reduction of the constriction angle. This effect is more pronounced for dense suspensions close to the maximum packing fraction where particles are in contact in contrast to semi-dilute suspensions. We rationalize this difference in terms of arch selection. We describe the role of the constriction angle and the flow profile, providing insights into the distinct behavior of semi-dilute and dense suspensions.