Numerical Investigation on Inertial Migration of Spherical Rigid Particle in the Entrance Region of a Microchannel

In this work, numerical investigation of inertial migration of neutrally buoyant rigid spherical particles in the entrance region of a microchannel is performed. Typically, inertial migration is examined for particles in a developed flow, in contrast, particles in developing flow are examined here. The entrance region having two-dimensional flow and fully developed region with the uni-directional flow is simulated with Re = 60 and a blockage ratio of 0.25. The particles are released from vertical positions of y/2H = 0.497 (center) and y/2H = 0.106 (near wall). It is observed that the particles released in the entrance region cover a longer longitudinal distance before reaching the equilibrium position. Indeed, the time taken for the particles to arrive at the zero-lift position in the developing flow is 23.8% and 7.8% more than that of a fully developed flow.