Dynamics of elliptic particle sedimentation with thermal convection

In this paper, a recently developed direct numerical simulation technique, the Finite Element Fictitious Boundary Method (FEM-FBM) [K. Walayat et al., “An efficient multi-grid finite element fictitious boundary method for particulate flows with thermal convection,” Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 126, 452–465 (2018)], is used to simulate sedimentation of an elliptic particle with thermal convection. The momentum and temperature flow fields are coupled with the aid of Boussinesq approximation. The thermal and momentum interactions between solid and fluid phases are handled by using the fictitious boundary method (FBM). The continuity, momentum, and energy equations are solved on a fixed Eulerian mesh which is independent of flow features by using a multi-grid finite element scheme. Two validation tests are conducted to show the accuracy of the present method, and then the effects of thermal properties of fluid on the sedimentation of an elliptic particle are studied. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of hot ...