Transport of inertial particles by viscous streaming in arrays of oscillating probes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method for transporting microscale inertial particles in viscous fluids using controlled oscillations of multiple cylinders, enabling predictable and arbitrary particle trajectories.

Contribution

It presents a novel technique leveraging viscous streaming and sequential oscillations of cylinders to control particle transport paths.

Findings

Particles can be predictably transported between trapping points.

Various cylinder arrangements enable arbitrary particle trajectories.

Transport timescales are characterized.

Abstract

A novel mechanism for the transport of microscale particles in viscous fluids is demonstrated. The mechanism exploits the trapping of such particles by rotational streaming cells established in the vicinity of an oscillating cylinder, recently analyzed in previous work. The present work explores a strategy of transporting particles between the trapping points established by multiple cylinders undergoing oscillations in sequential intervals. It is demonstrated that, by controlling the sequence of oscillation intervals, an inertial particle is effectively and predictably transported between the stable trapping points. Arrays of cylinders in various arrangements are investigated, revealing a quite general technique for constructing arbitrary particle trajectories. The timescales for transport are also discussed.