Numerical simulation of an oil particle in emulsion lubrication

The analogy of lateral particle migration in shear flows has been used to investigate the entrainment of oil particles in the inlet region where a Poiseuille flow is assumed. Previous researchers have studied the particle segregation positions and the particle size effect through two-dimensional simulations. In this paper, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations were conducted. The two-dimensional analysis showed that there are two stable off-center segregation positions and one neutrally stable center segregation position for the small particles, while only one stable center segregation position was found for the large particles. The results are similar in three-dimensional simulations except that the center segregation position is more stable than in the two-dimensional case. It should be noted that all the segregation positions are within the backflow region, which means all the oil particles will be rejected from the contact region if the interparticle collisions are ignored. This is supported by experimental observations.