Inertial focusing of spherical capsule in pulsatile channel flows

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates how pulsatile flow influences the lateral focusing of spherical capsules in channels, revealing optimal frequencies and flow conditions for enhanced inertial focusing applicable to cell sorting.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive numerical analysis of capsule focusing under pulsatile flow, identifying optimal frequencies and flow parameters affecting inertial focusing.

Findings

High Ca capsules focus axially at finite Re similar to inertialess case.

Oscillating pressure gradients accelerate axial focusing speed.

An optimal pulsation frequency maximizes focusing speed, consistent with non-inertial cases.

Abstract

We present numerical analysis of the lateral movement of spherical capsule in the steady and pulsatile channel flow of a Newtonian fluid, for a wide range of oscillatory frequency. Each capsule membrane satisfying strain-hardening characteristic is simulated for different Reynolds numbers Re and capillary numbers Ca. Our numerical results showed that capsules with high Ca exhibit axial focusing at finite Re similarly to the inertialess case. We observe that the speed of the axial focusing can be substantially accelerated by making the driving pressure gradient oscillating in time. We also confirm the existence of an optimal frequency which maximises the speed of axial focusing, that remains the same found in the absence of inertia. For relatively low Ca, on the other hand, the capsule exhibits off-centre focusing, resulting in various equilibrium radial positions depending on Re. Our numerical results further clarifies the existence of a specific Re for which the effect of the flow pulsation to the equilibrium radial position is maximum. The roles of channel size on the lateral movements of the capsule are also addressed. Throughout our analyses, we have quantified the radial position of the capsule in a tube based on an empirical expression. Given that the speed of inertial focusing can be controlled by the oscillatory frequency, the results obtained here can be utilised for label-free cell alignment/sorting/separation techniques, e.g., for circulating tumor cells in cancer patients or precious hematopoietic cells such as colony-forming cells.