Shear banding of repulsive particulate suspensions in rotating Couette flow

Shear banding of repulsive particulate suspensions in rotating Couette flow has been studied by self-consistent particle simulation. The fluid-particle interaction was considered in this algorithm by recursively solving the microscopic particle dynamics and macroscopic flow simulation. The tangential velocity profiles were non-homogeneous and the shear banding was clearly observed. The band formation was affected by shear rate as well as volume fraction. An optimum shear rate region was found where the shear banding was most pronounced. The banding was found to evolve with stress growth, and the final form of shear banding was dependent upon the degree of stress relaxation. The mechanism of the band formation was explained in terms of the fundamental forces acting on the particle system and fluid-particle interaction rather than yielding.