Resuspension of small particles by turbulent flow

A resuspension model is developed and applied to the resuspension of a sparse monolayer of spherical particles from a stainless steel surface. The particle-surface interaction potential is calculated from a microscopic model based on the Lennard-Jones intermolecular potential; both the attractive and the repulsive parts of the intermolecular potential are considered. The natural frequency of vibration of a particle on a surface and the depth of the potential well are expressed in terms of microscopic material parameters. The present model is an extension of a previous developed resuspension model where the influence of the fluid flow on the adhesive potential is recognized. Surface roughness that leads to a spread and decrease of the adhesive forces has been included in the present model. The predictions of the present model are in good agreement with available experimental data for AI20 3 and Cd particles.