SETTLING OF A SUSPENSION OF HARD-SPHERES

We derive the average sedimentation rate, in the non-Brownian limit, for monodispersed spheres in systems ranging from dilute to concentrated. A collection of monodisperse hard spheres suspended in a viscous fluid constitutes a single scaled system. A mean-field approach was used to determine the energy balance during the sedimentation process. The model gives very accurately the volume fraction dependence for the velocities of the two shocks like fronts separating the suspension from the clear liquid and from the sediment.