Correction to Doi type models for suspensions

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the derivation of Doi models for suspensions, identifying limitations in orientation evolution due to singular interactions, and proposes a modified model incorporating correlation effects for improved accuracy.

Contribution

It rigorously derives a correction to Doi models by including a new term based on particle correlations, enhancing model accuracy for suspensions.

Findings

Identified the failure of Doi models in capturing orientation evolution.

Derived the limit of singular interactions involving particle correlations.

Proposed a modified Doi model with improved first-order accuracy.

Abstract

Starting from microscopic $N$ particle systems, we study the derivation of Doi type models for suspensions of non-spherical particles in Stokes flows. While Doi models accurately describe the effective evolution of the spatial particle density to the first order in the particle volume fraction, this accuracy fails regarding the evolution of the particle orientations. We rigorously attribute this failure to the singular interaction of the particles via a $-3$-homogeneous kernel. In the situation that the particles are initially distributed according to a stationary ergodic point process, we identify the limit of this singular interaction term. It consists of two parts. The first corresponds to a classical term in Doi type models. The second new term depends on the (microscopic) $2$-point correlation of the point process. By including this term, we provide a modification of the Doi model that is accurate to first order in the particle volume fraction.