Capillary‐bridge forces between solid particles: Insights from lattice Boltzmann simulations

Liquid capillary-bridge formation between solid particles has a critical influence on the rheological properties of granular materials and, in particular, efficiency fluidized bed reactors. The available analytical and semi-analytical methods have inherent limitations, often do not cover important aspects, like presence non-axisymmetric bridges. Here, we conduct numerical simulations capillary bridge equally unequally-sized using lattice Boltzmann method, provide an assessment accuracy different families models. We find that some models taken into account are shown to perform better than others. However, all them fail predict force for contact angles larger $\pi/2$, where repulsive attempts push particle outwards minimize surface energy, especially at small separation distance.