Generalized hydrodynamics of a dilute finite-sized particles suspension: Dynamic viscosity

TL;DR

This paper develops a mesoscopic hydrodynamic model for dilute colloidal suspensions, revealing how finite particle size influences the system's dynamic shear viscosity under non-equilibrium conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a set of coupled differential equations incorporating finite particle size effects into the hydrodynamic description of colloidal suspensions.

Findings

Finite particle size affects the dynamic shear viscosity.

Derived coupled equations for diffusion current and stress tensor.

Model applicable to non-equilibrium stationary states.

Abstract

We present a mesoscopic hydrodynamic description of the dynamics of colloidal suspensions. We consider the system as a gas of Brownian particles suspended in a Newtonian heat bath subjected to stationary non-equilibrium conditions imposed by a velocity field. Using results already obtained in previous studies in the field by means of a generalized Fokker-Planck equation, we obtain a set of coupled differential equations for the local diffusion current and the evolution of the total stress tensor. We find that the dynamic shear viscosity of the system contains contributions arising from the finite size of the particles.