Simulation of Deformed Solid Particles in Constrained Microfluidic Channel

M. Cartas-Ayala[1], R. Karnik[1]
[1]Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Published in 2012

Characterization of particles has numerous applications in science and diagnostics. Recently, particle passage through constrained microchannels has been proposed to characterize particles based on their passage velocity. Nevertheless, there is no clear understanding of how the physics in this system interact. Here we quantify the effects of the flow around the particle by simulating the passage of a solid deformed particle moving at different velocities in a microfluidic channel. The fundamental understanding gained through this work could explain differences on the experimental results already available on particle passage through micro channels.