Understanding the Frequency Distribution of Mechanically Stable Disk Packings

Relative frequencies of mechanically stable (MS) packings of frictionless bidisperse disks are studied numerically in small systems. The packings are created by successively compressing or decompressing a system of soft purely repulsive disks, followed by energy minimization, until only infinitesimal particle overlaps remain. For systems of up to 14 particles most of the MS packings were generated. We find that the packings are not equally probable as has been assumed in recent thermodynamic descriptions of granular systems. Instead, the frequency distribution, averaged over each packing-fraction interval $\Delta \phi$, grows exponentially with increasing $\phi$. Moreover, within each packing-fraction interval MS packings occur with frequencies $f_k$ that differ by many orders of magnitude. Also, key features of the frequency distribution do not change when we significantly alter the packing-generation algorithm--for example frequent packings remain frequent and rare ones remain rare. These results indicate that the frequency distribution of MS packings is strongly influenced by geometrical properties of the multidimensional configuration space. By adding thermal fluctuations to a set of the MS packings, we were able to examine a number of local features of configuration space near each packing including the time required for a given packing to break to a distinct one, which enabled us to estimate the energy barriers that separate one packing from another. We found a positive correlation between the packing frequencies and the heights of the lowest energy barriers $\epsilon_0$. We also examined displacement fluctuations away from the MS packings to correlate the size and shape of the local basins near each packing to the packing frequencies.Comment: 21 pages, 20 figures, 1 tabl

Lubrication approximation for micro-particles moving along parallel walls

Lubrication expressions for the friction coefficients of a spherical particle moving in a fluid between and along two parallel solid walls are explicitly evaluated in the low-Reynolds-number regime. They are used to determine lubrication expression for the particle free motion under an ambient Poiseuille flow. The range of validity and the accuracy of the lubrication approximation is determined by comparing with the corresponding results of the accurate multipole procedure. The results are applicable for thin, wide and long microchannels, or quasi-two-dimensional systems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

High-frequency viscosity of a dilute suspension of elongated particles in a linear shear flow between two walls

International audienceA general expression for the effective viscosity of a dilute suspension of arbitrary-shaped particles in linear shear flow between two parallel walls is derived in terms of the induced stresslets on particles. This formula is applied to N-bead rods and to prolate spheroids with the same length, aspect ratio and volume. The effective viscosity of non-Brownian particles in a periodic shear flow is considered here. The oscillating frequency is high enough for the particle orientation and centre-of-mass distribution to be practically frozen, yet small enough for the flow to be quasi-steady. It is known that for spheres, the intrinsic viscosity [μ] increases monotonically when the distance H between the walls is decreased. The dependence is more complex for both types of elongated particles. Three regimes are theoretically predicted here: (i) a ‘weakly confined’ regime (for H>l, where l is the particle length), where [μ] is slightly larger for smaller H; (ii) a ‘semi-confined’ regime, when H becomes smaller than l, where [μ] rapidly decreases since the geometric constraints eliminate particle orientations corresponding to the largest stresslets; (iii) a ‘strongly confined’ regime when H becomes smaller than 2–3 particle widths d, where [μ] rapidly increases owing to the strong hydrodynamic coupling with the walls. In addition, for sufficiently slender particles (with aspect ratio larger than 5–6) there is a domain of narrow gaps for which the intrinsic viscosity is smaller than that in unbounded fluid

Near-wall dynamics of concentrated hard-sphere suspensions: comparison of evanescent wave DLS experiments, virial approximation and simulations

In this article we report on a study of the near-wall dynamics of suspended colloidal hard spheres over a broad range of volume fractions. We present a thorough comparison of experimental data with predictions based on a virial approximation and simulation results. We find that the virial approach describes the experimental data reasonably well up to a volume fraction of ϕ ≈ 0.25 which provides us with a fast and non-costly tool for the analysis and prediction of evanescent wave DLS data. Based on this we propose a new method to assess the near-wall self-diffusion at elevated density. Here, we qualitatively confirm earlier results [Michailidou, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2009, 102, 068302], which indicate that many-particle hydrodynamic interactions are diminished by the presence of the wall at increasing volume fractions as compared to bulk dynamics. Beyond this finding we show that this diminishment is different for the particle motion normal and parallel to the wall

State diagram of a three-sphere microswimmer in a channel

Geometric confinements are frequently encountered in soft matter systems and in particular significantly alter the dynamics of swimming microorganisms in viscous media. Surface-related effects on the motility of microswimmers can lead to important consequences in a large number of biological systems, such as biofilm formation, bacterial adhesion and microbial activity. On the basis of low-Reynolds-number hydrodynamics, we explore the state diagram of a three-sphere microswimmer under channel confinement in a slit geometry and fully characterize the swimming behavior and trajectories for neutral swimmers, puller- and pusher-type swimmers. While pushers always end up trapped at the channel walls, neutral swimmers and pullers may further perform a gliding motion and maintain a stable navigation along the channel. We find that the resulting dynamical system exhibits a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation in which swimming in the mid-plane becomes unstable beyond a transition channel height while two new stable limit cycles or fixed points that are symmetrically disposed with respect to the channel mid-height emerge. Additionally, we show that an accurate description of the averaged swimming velocity and rotation rate in a channel can be captured analytically using the method of hydrodynamic images, provided that the swimmer size is much smaller than the channel height.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures. Article contributed to the Topical Issue of the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, entitled "Transport in Narrow Channels" edited by Paolo Malgaretti, Gleb Oshanin, and Julian Talbo