Finite-size coherent particle structures in high-Prandtl-number liquid bridges

Abstract

The transport of liquid and of small rigid spherical particles in a high-Prandtl-number (Pr = 68) thermocapillary liquid bridge under zero gravity is studied by highly resolved numerical simulations when the flow arises as an azimuthally traveling hydrothermal wave with azimuthal wave number one. The Langrangian transport of fluid elements reveals the coexistence of regular and chaotic streamlines in the frame of reference rotating with the wave. The structure of the KAM (Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser) tori is unraveled for several Reynolds numbers for which the flow is periodic in time and space. Based on the streamline topology the segregation of small rigid spherical particles of a dilute suspension into particle accumulation structures (PASs) is studied, based on the steric finite-particle-size effect when the particles moves close to the free surface. It is shown that the intricate KAM structures have their counterparts in a multitude of different attractors for the particle motion. Examples of PASs are provided, and their dependence on particle size, particle-to-fluid density ratio, and Reynolds number are discussed. A large parametric study reveals the most probable combinations of particle size and density ratio which lead to particle clustering.