Research on the motion of particles in the turbulent pipe flow of fiber suspensions

The motion of fibers in turbulent pipe flow was simulated by 3-D integral method based on the slender body theory and simplified model of turbulence. The orientation distribution of fibers in the computational area for different Re numbers was computed. The results which were consistent with the experimental ones show that the fluctuation velocity of turbulence cause fibers to orient randomly. The orientation distributions become broader as the Re number increases. Then the fluctuation velocity and angular velocity of fibers were obtained. Both are affected by the fluctuation velocity of turbulence. The fluctuation velocity intensity of fiber is stronger at longitudinal than at lateral, while it was opposite for the fluctuation angular velocity intensity of fibers. Finally, the spatial distribution of fiber was given. It is obvious that the fiber dispersion is strenghened with the increase of Re numbers.