Particle "swarm" dynamics in triboelectric systems

Using state-of-the-art flow/particle visualization and animation techniques , the time-dependent statistical distributions of charged-particle "swarms" exposed to external fields (both electrostatic and flow) are examined. We found that interparticle interaction and drag forces mainly influenced swar m dispersion in a Lagrangian reference frame, whereas the average particle trajectory was affected primarily by the external electric and flow fields. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.