Reviving the Suspension Balance Model

TL;DR

This paper revisits the Suspension Balance Model for two-phase flows, clarifying the role of hydrodynamic stresses and validating the model's core assumptions through theoretical and simulation analyses.

Contribution

It provides a proper partitioning of hydrodynamic forces, demonstrating the validity of the SBM's assumptions and correcting previous misunderstandings.

Findings

Hydrodynamic stress contribution is nearly identical to particle-phase stress.

Proper force partitioning aligns with thermodynamic principles.

Validation of the SBM's core assumptions through simulations.

Abstract

The Suspension Balance Model (SBM) [J. Fluid Mech. \textbf{275}, 157 (1994)] for two-phase flows uses the momentum balance of the particle phase as a closure for the particle flux, showing that particle migration is driven by the divergence of the particle-phase stress. The underlying basis of this model was challenged by Nott~et~al.\ [Phys. Fluids \textbf{23}, 043304 (2011)] where the authors argued that the hydrodynamic contributions to the suspension stress should not appear in the particle-phase momentum balance, being replaced by a different particle-phase stress. The particle-phase stress proposed by Nott~et~al., while mathematically correct, involves the partitioning of the (non-pairwise-additive) hydrodynamic forces, and care is needed to understand how the force on a chosen particle is affected by a second particle. We show by a simple two-particle calculation what is the proper partitioning, and show that it is consistent thermodynamically and gives the correct equilibrium osmotic pressure of Brownian colloids. Using Stokesian Dyanmics suspension rheology, we quantitatively demonstrate that the hydrodynamic contribution to the suspension stress is virtually identical to particle-phase stress; the only difference is that the isolated single-particle hydrodynamic stress contribution -- the Einstein viscosity correction -- must be removed from the suspension stress when used to predict particle flux. Our results validate a key assumption of the SBM and therefore revive its physical foundation.