Bifurcate migration of neutrally buoyant particles in unilateral slippery channel flows

As an important technique for manipulating particles in fluid-solid channel flows, inertial focusing encourages the design of the channel geometry to enhance particle radial aggregation. Traditional methods typically use exquisite sheathes or elbows to create constricted flows, which ultimately increase flow resistance and lower fluid-solid separation efficiency. This paper presents a slippery wall modification technique that, by regulating the channel flows, is expected to induce nontrivial particle lateral migrations. More specifically, interface-resolved simulations are performed using the lattice Boltzmann method. A slip boundary condition is applied to the redesigned hydrophobic bottom wall. It is observed that the typical bifurcate migration, i.e., particles moving divergently toward the upper and lower equilibrium positions around a crucial location (CL), does not occur along the channel centerline. The CL is always below the centerline, and it decreases consistently with an increase in Kn or Re. By increasing Re, particles are prone to approach the channel centerline. With larger Kn, particles in the higher equilibrium position are affected in the same way, but their lower counterparts are drawn to the bottom wall.