Inertial focusing of spherical and non-spherical particle in curved channel*

We report an experimental investigation on migration and focusing of spherical and non-spherical particles in a curved channel. Experiments were performed for a range of Reynolds number 267 to 1571 and corresponding Dean number 36 to 216. Three types of particles, spherical, cylindrical and cubical, with volume equivalent diameter to channel dimension ratio of 0.05 to 0.1, were used for experiments. The suspension was very dilute so that inter-particle hydrodynamic interaction could be neglected. Particles are found to be focused in two elliptical annuls at the upper and lower half of the channel cross-section. The probability distribution function of the particle distribution has been calculated and the spread of the focusing zone has been characterized as a function of the Dean number and shape of particles.