Hydrodynamic interaction between two cylinders in planar shear flow of viscoelastic fluid

Particle-particle interaction is of great importance in the study of suspension rheology. In this research we have investigated the hydrodynamic interaction between two identical cylinders in viscoelastic fluids numerically as a model problem for the study of viscoelastic suspension. We confine two neutrally buoyant cylinders between two parallel plates and impose a shear flow. We determine the migration velocity of two cylinders. The result shows that cylinders move toward or away from each other depending upon the initial distance between them and that there is an equilibrium distance between two cylinders in viscoelastic fluids regardless of the initial distance. In the case of Newtonian fluid, there is no relative movement as expected. The results partly explain the chaining phenomena of spherical particles in shear flows of viscoelastic fluids.