Simulation of particle aggregate dynamics in a viscous fluid

The dynamics of aggregates of spherical particles in a viscous fluid is numerically simulated. A particle aggregate is treated as a set of particles influenced by both hydrodynamic interaction forces and internal forces retaining the particles within the aggregate. The sedimentation of various model aggregates is considered. The analysis performed suggests that the theoretical results are in qualitative and quantitative agreement with experiments concerning the dynamics of particle aggregates.