Particle Resuspension

Particle could get resuspended by human activities in indoor environment.  In this project the effects of capillary and electrical forces on particle adhesion and removal mechanism due to human activities are studied.  Different detachment theories are used and the increase of adhesion force by the capillary and electrical effects is included in the analysis. The criteria for incipient rolling and sliding detachments are evaluated. The sublayer and burst models, which account for the structure of turbulent near wall flows, are used for evaluating the air velocity condition near the surface. The critical shear velocities for removing particles of different sizes under different conditions are evaluated.  Detachment of particles from rough surfaces and from carpet is also being studied.  Comparisons of the model predictions with the available experimental data are also being performed.

Funded by US EPA