The accuracy of fluidized-bed CFD predictions using the two-fluid model can be improved significantly, even when using coarse grids, by replacing the microscopic kinetic-theory-based closures with coarsegrained constitutive models. These coarse-grained constitutive relationships, called filtered models, account for the unresolved gas-particle structures (clusters and bubbles) via sub-grid corrections.Following the previous 2-D approaches of Igci et al.

No abstract

A method for determining Stokes flow around particles near a wall or in a thin film bounded by a wall on one side and a nondeformable gas-liquid interface on the other side is developed. The no-slip boundary conditions at the wall are satisfied by constructing an image system based on Lamb's multipoles. Earlier results for the image systems for the flow due to a point force or a force dipole are extended to image systems for force or source multipoles of arbitrary orders. For the case of a film, the image system consists of an infinite series of multipoles on both sides of the film. Accurate evaluation of the flow due to these images is discussed, including the use of Shanks transforms. The method is applied to several problems including chains of particles, radially expanding particles, drops, and porous particles.

Observations of bubbles rising near a wall under conditions of large Reynolds and small Weber numbers have indicated that the velocity component of the bubbles parallel to the wall is significantly reduced upon collision with a wall. To understand the effect of such bubble-wall collisions on the flow of bubbly liquids bounded by walls, a model is developed and examined in detail by numerical simulations and theory. The model is a system of bubbles in which the velocity of the bubbles parallel to the wall is significantly reduced upon collision with the channel wall while the bubbles in the bulk are acted upon by gravity and linear drag forces. The inertial forces are accounted for by modeling the bubbles as rigid particles with mass equal to the virtual mass of the bubbles. The standard kinetic theory for granular materials modified to account for the viscous and gravity forces and supplemented with boundary conditions derived assuming an isotropic Maxwellian velocity distribution is inadequate for describing the behavior of the bubble-phase continuum near the walls since the velocity distribution of the bubbles near the walls is significantly bimodal and anisotropic. A kinetic theory that accounts for such a velocity distribution is described. The bimodal nature is captured by treating the system as consisting of two species with the bubbles (modeled as particles) whose most recent collision was with a channel wall treated as one species and those whose last collision was with another bubble as the other species. The theory is shown to be in very good agreement with the results of numerical simulations and provides closure relations that may be used in the analysis of bidisperse particulate systems as well as bounded bubbly flows.

In response to the respiratory protection device shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the additive manufacturing (AM) community designed and disseminated numerous AM face masks. Questions regarding the effectiveness of AM masks arose because these masks were often designed with limited (if any) functional performance evaluation. In this study, we present a fit evaluation methodology in which AM face masks are virtually donned on a standard digital headform using finite element-based numerical simulations. We then extract contour plots to visualize the contact patches and gaps and quantify the leakage surface area for each mask frame. We also use the methodology to evaluate the effects of adding a foam gasket and variable face mask sizing, and finally propose a series of best practices. Herein, the methodology is focused only on characterizing the fit of AM mask frames and does not considering filter material or overall performance. We found that AM face masks may provide a sufficiently good fit if the sizing is appropriate and if a sealing gasket material is present to fill the gaps between the mask and face. Without these precautions, the rigid nature of AM materials combined with the wide variation in facial morphology likely results in large gaps and insufficient adaptability to varying user conditions which may render the AM face masks ineffective.