PARTICLE COLLISION RATE IN FLUID-FLOWS

The classical result of Smoluchowski [Z. Phys. Chem. 92, 129 (1917)] f or the collision rate of monodisperse particles in a laminar shear flo w is shown to be inaccurate due to the inclusion of the self-collision . In the present work we extend Smoluchowski's result by excluding the self-collision in the counting of collision pairs. A numerical simula tion for particle collisions in a laminar shear flow at very low conce ntration is carried out to validate the extended result of Smoluchowsk i. Good agreement for the collision rate between the numerical simulat ion and the prediction based on the extended expression is obtained. ( C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.