Flow simulations with multi-particle collision dynamics

Multi-particle collision dynamics (MPCD) is a particle based Navier-Stokes solver and in the last ten years it has been largely used to analyze meso- scopic systems where both hydrodynamics and ther- mal effects have to be taken into account, typical ex- amples being colloidal suspensions and polymer solu- tions. Though the soundness of this approach is well documented, only a few studies present a systematic validation of the method as a Navier-Stokes solver for relatively complex flows (e.g. unsteady, non-uniform). In this study we use MPCD to simulate an unsteady periodic flow (second Stokes’ problem) and a two di- mensional flow (lid-driven cavity). Quantitative com- parisons with analytical and finite difference results show that MPCD is able to correctly reproduce the hy- drodynamics of these systems in a wide range of nu- merical parameter values, allowing the applications of MPCD to the analysis of complex fluids in confined geometries such as in Lab-On-a-Chip microfluidic de- vices. Discrepancies for certain parameter ranges and in specific flow conditions are singled out and discussed.