Wall effects on a single spherical particle moving through a Carreau model fluid

Abstract

The steady slow motion of solid spheres through a Carreau model fluid contained in a cylindrical tube has been solved numerically using a finite element method by means of the COMSOL Multiphysics software package for steady non-Newtonian flows. From the resulting stress fields, the drag force on the sphere, drag coefficient, drag coefficient corrective factor, and wall correction factor have been evaluated in dependence on the Carreau model parameters and the sphere to tube diameter ratio. The results of the wall correction factor calculations are presented herein and compared with our new experimental data.