Periodic and aperiodic tumbling of microrods advected in a microchannel flow

• We report on an experimental investigation of the tumbling of microrods in the shear flow of a microchannel (dimensions: 40 mm x 2.5 mm x 0.4 mm. The rods are 20-30 mu m long and their diameters are of the order of 1 mu m. Images of the centre-of-mass motion and the orientational dynamics of the rods are recorded using a microscope equipped with a CCD camera. A motorised microscope stage is used to track individual rods as they move along the channel. Automated image analysis determines the position and orientation of a tracked rod in each video frame. We find different behaviours, depending on the particle shape, its initial position, and orientation. First, we observe periodic as well as aperiodic tumbling. Second, the data show that different tumbling trajectories exhibit different sensitivities to external perturbations. These observations can be explained by slight asymmetries of the rods. Third, we observe that after some time, initially periodic trajectories lose their phase. We attribute this to drift of the centre of mass of the rod from one to another streamline of the channel flow.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

SIMPLE SHEAR-FLOW

PARTICLES

SUSPENSIONS

ROTATION

MOTION

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)