Dynamics of small particle inertial migration in curved square ductsMicrochannels are well-known in microfluidic applications for the control and
separation of microdroplets and cells. Often the objects in the flow experience
inertial effects, resulting in dynamics that is a departure from the underlying
channel flow dynamics. This paper considers small neutrally buoyant spherical
particles suspended in flow through a curved duct having a square
cross-section. The particle experiences a combination of inertial lift force
induced by the disturbance from the primary flow along the duct, and drag from
the secondary vortices in the cross-section, which drive migration of the
particle within the cross-section. We construct a simplified model that
preserves the core topology of the force field yet depends on a single
parameter $κ$, quantifying the relative strength of the two forces. We
show that $κ$ is a bifurcation parameter for the dynamical system that
describes motion of the particle in the cross section of the duct. At large
values of $κ$ there exists an attracting limit cycle, in each of the upper
and lower halves of the duct. At small $κ$ we find that particles migrate
to one of four stable foci. Between these extremes, there is an
intermediate-range of $κ$ for which all particles migrate to a single
stable focus. Noting that the positions of the limit cycles and foci vary with
the value of $κ$, this behavior indicates that, for a suitable particle
mixture, duct bend radius might be chosen to segregate particles by size. We
evaluate the time and axial distance required to focus particles near the
unique stable node, which determines the duct length required for particle
segregation.
arxiv.org