Stresslet of colloidal suspensions in a spherical cavity

Early studies of force and torque hydrodynamic functions for a colloid in a spherical cavity^1-3 paved the way to more sophisticated computational methods, such as the Confined Stokesian dynamics algorithm^4,5. However, these studies are restricted to equilibrium situations owing to the lack of stresslet coupling. Currently, the study of confined colloids is gaining traction given its direct application to intracellular transport. In cells, the dynamics are driven out-of-equilibrium by active transport, concentration gradients, and metabolic responses. Furthermore, a predictive model for intracellular transport needs to characterize rheological parameters (η, OP, …), this is only possible by accurately incorporating the stresslet coupling. Here we present the exact solution for stresslet hydrodynamic functions of a colloid in a spherical cavity, and its application to more concentrated suspensions via the Confined Stokesian dynamics algorithm. With this algorithm, we predict high-frequency dynamic viscosities that show non-monotonic behavior throughout the confined domain.
[1]Jeffery, P London Math Soc 1915 [2]Stimson and Jeffery, P London Math Soc 1926 [3]O’Neill and Majumdar, ZAMP 1970 [4]Aponte-Rivera and Zia, Phys Rev Fluids 2016 [5]Aponte-Rivera, Su, and Zia, J Fluid Mech 2018