Drag and lift forces acting on a spherical droplet in homogeneous shear flow

Abstract

Drag and lift forces acting on a spherical droplet in a homogeneous linear shear flow were numerically studied by means of a three dimensional direct numerical simulation based on a marker and cell (MAC) method. The effects of fluid shear rate and particle Reynolds number on drag and lift forces acting on a spherical droplet were compared with those on a rigid sphere. The results show that the drag force acting on a spherical droplet in a linear shear flow increases with shear. The lift force acts on a droplet from high-speed side to low-speed side in the linear shear flow with high particle Reynolds number of Rep≥100. The direction of the lift force is different between low and high particle Reynolds number flows. The behavior of the lift force on a droplet is quite similar to that on a rigid sphere, but the effects of fluid shear rate on the lift force acting on a spherical droplet in the linear shear flow become smaller than that acting on a rigid sphere in the low Reynolds number region of Rep<10.