title: Transient cluster formation in sheared non-Brownian suspensions.
abstract: We perform numerical simulations of non-Brownian suspensions in the laminar flow regime to study the scaling behavior of particle clusters and collisions under shear. As the particle fraction approaches the maximum packing fraction, large transient clusters appear in the system. We use methods from percolation theory to discuss the cluster size distribution. We also give a scaling relation for the percolation threshold as well as system size effects through time-dependent fluctuations of this threshold and relate them to system size. System size effects are important close to the maximum packing fraction due to the divergence of the cluster length scale. We then investigate the transient nature of the clusters through characterization of particle collisions and show that collision times exhibit scale-invariant properties. Finally, we show that particle collision times can be modeled as first-passage processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Sem Sælands vei 24, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kjetil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thøgersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Sem Sælands vei 24, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway.|Computational Geology Laboratory, Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, 53-122 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dabrowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Sem Sælands vei 24, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malthe-Sørenssen