Wall Proximity and Curvature Effect on Added Mass Forces in Two-Phase Cross-Flow

This paper studies the effect of wall proximity and wall curvature on the added mass coefficient of a spherical bubble. Results are based on a semi-analytical method. This information is essential to completely characterize finely dispersed bubbly flows in two-phase cross flow. In such flows small spherical gas bubbles are present in a continuous liquid phase close to a cylinder. This paper uses solid harmonics to solve 3D potential flow around a bubble and a wall. A new technique is developed to calculate the flow potential around a sphere and a cylinder using solid harmonics. Several configurations were calculated: one bubble close to an infinite wall, one bubble close to a cylinder and one bubble close to a spherical wall. Our results are compared with previous studies. As expected added mass forces increase in the vicinity of the wall and for lower curvature. The main purpose of this work is to understand the effect of wall curvature and proximity on added mass. These results are suitable for further use, particularly as added mass models for multiphase flow averaged equations.