Viscosity prediction for dense suspensions of non-spherical particles based on CFD-DEM simulations

Reliable estimation of the viscosity and rheology of dense suspensions formed from non-spherical particles is of high importance for studies of many natural and industrial processes. Still, the complexity of underlying physics makes predicting the viscosity of such suspensions a challenging task, resulting in a lack of models capable of doing so for general suspensions. In this work, we present an approach based on a combination of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) developed for arbitrarily shaped particles and use it to predict viscosity of dense suspensions of spheres, rods, and glitters. Simulation results are compared to available experimental data and commonly used engineering correlations. The developed model can reliably predict suspension viscosity in a wide range of solid volume fractions and particle shapes. The simulations with spherical particles also reveal a shear-thickening trend at increased shear rates, which corresponds to the experimentally observed non-Newtonian behavior.