Hydrodynamic and brownian fluctuations in sedimenting suspensions
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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
1Department of Chemistry, Cambridge University, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We use a mesoscopic computer simulation method to study the interplay between hydrodynamic and Brownian fluctuations during steady-state sedimentation of hard sphere particles for Peclet numbers (Pe) ranging from 0.1-15. Even when the hydrodynamic interactions are an order of magnitude weaker than Brownian forces, they still induce backflow effects that dominate the reduction of the average sedimentation velocity with increasing particle packing fraction. Velocity fluctuations, on the other hand, begin to show nonequilibrium hydrodynamic character for Pe>1.
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