NUMERICAL STUDY ON THE SEDIMENTED MOTION CHARACTERISTICS OF THREE ALIGNED CIRCULAR PARTICLES IN THE INCLINED CHANNELS

The immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) is used to numerically investigate the sedimented motion characteristics of three rigid circular particles in the inclined channels. The gravity is considered, and the inclined angles of the channels are sequentially changed from 0° to 90°. The effect of inclined angles on the sedimented motion characteristics is firstly investigated. Present results show that the lagging particle will surpass the leading particle when inclined angles of channel are larger than 59°. Then, the effect of Re number on the sedimented characteristics is also studied. This study finds that the aggregation time of three particles decreases as Re number increases. In addition, this study also finds that the non-uniformity of the diameters of three circular particles can alter the sedimented characteristics. When the diameters of three longitudinally aligned particles gradually become smaller, the aggregation time can be shorten. The aggregation of the particles can also be accelerated as long as the diameter of particles in the middle is larger than the diameters of other two adjacent particles. Present results can provide useful information for related problems in environmental engineering and geology.