Enhanced axial migration of a deformable capsule in pulsatile channel flows

Abstract

We present numerical analysis of the lateral movement of a deformable spherical capsule in a pulsatile channel flow, with a Newtonian fluid in almost inertialess condition and at a small confinement ratio $a_0/R=0.4$, where $R$ and $a$ are the channel and capsule radius. We find that the speed of the axial migration of the capsule can be accelerated by the flow pulsation at a specific frequency. The migration speed increases with the oscillatory amplitude, while the most effective frequency remains basically unchanged and independent of the amplitude. Our numerical results form a fundamental basis for further studies on cellular flow mechanics, since pulsatile flows are physiologically relevant in human circulation, potentially affecting the dynamics of deformable particles and red blood cells (RBCs), and can also be potentially exploited in cell focusing techniques.

References in corpus (4)

• On the lateral migration of a slightly deformed bubble rising near a vertical plane wall
• Hemorheology in dilute, semi-dilute and dense suspensions of red blood cells
• Inertial migration of red blood cells under a Newtonian fluid in a circular channel
• Inertial migration of a deformable capsule in an oscillatory flow in a microchannel

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Inertial focusing of spherical capsule in pulsatile channel flows