Inertial Particle Focusing in Curved Ducts: Bifurcation and Dynamics

Particles suspended in fluid flow through a curved duct can focus to stable equilibrium positions in the duct cross-section due to the balance of two dominant forces - inertial lift force from axial flow and secondary drag force from cross-sectional vortices. Such particle focusing is exploited in various medical and industrial technologies aimed at separating particles by size. In this talk, we will present results of our numerical investigation of the dynamics of neutrally buoyant particles in fluid flow through curved ducts. We will show that rich bifurcations take place in the particle equilibria as a function of system parameters. We will offer insights on how these bifurcations in combination with particle dynamics can be exploited to separate particles of different sizes in circular and spiral ducts.