Sedimentation of colloidal particles near a wall: Stokesian dynamics simulations

Abstract

We describe a practical approach for computing the mobility matrix of a system of colloidal particles near a hard wall. The approach can be carried out in principle to arbitrary accuracy and number of particles. We make use of this approach to perform Stokesian dynamics computer simulations of colloidal suspensions in both unbounded and bounded fluids. We study finite clusters of particles sedimenting parallel to a nearby hard wall under the influence of a uniform force. The convergence properties of the new scheme, the effect of the wall on the colloidal dynamics, and the additional effect of interparticle and wall–particle potentials are all examined.