Self-diffusion of Brownian particles in concentrated suspensions under shear

Abstract

The self-diffusivity of Brownian hard spheres in a simple shear flow is studied by numerical simulation. Particle trajectories are calculated by Stokesian dynamics, with an accurate representation of the suspension hydrodynamics that includes both many-body interactions and lubrication. The simulations are of a monolayer of identical spheres as a function of the Péclet number: Pe =gamma-dot a^2/D0, which measures the relative importance of shear and Brownian forces. Here gamma-dot is the shear rate, a the particle radius, and D0 the diffusion coefficient of a single sphere at infinite dilution. In the absence of shear, using only hydrodynamic interactions, the simulations reproduce the pair-distribution function of the equivalent hard-disk system. Both short- and long-time self-diffusivities are determined as a function of the Péclet number. The results show a clear transition from a Brownian motion dominated regime (Pe<1) to a hydrodynamically dominated regime (Pe>10) with a dramatic change in the behavior of the long-time self-diffusivity.

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