A numerical model for fluid-particle flows

In this paper a numerical algorithm for fluid-particle flow computation is presented. The mathematical formulation is based on the averaged continuum model, in which the effects of particles are taken into account in terms of an effective viscosity. The dispersed phase equation closure is based on sedimentation and shear-induced self-diffusion effects. The present work is the first step in the development of a general model for the simulation of the interaction between waves or currents and bottom sediment. Namely, the proposed approach allows the study of sediment transport and the evolution of the bottom shape without the need for curvilinear coordinate systems and related step-by-step regridding. In fact, pure liquid regions, suspension regions (more or less concentrated) as well as bottom sediment are studied by a unique model with a proper effective viscosity (hindrance effect and Bingham viscoplastic model). Preliminary numerical results have been obtained for 2D Bingham flow in a driven cavity by a finite difference method.