Flow-induced migration of polymers in dilute solution

Abstract

We investigate the lateral migration of a confined polymer under pressure driven and uniform shear flows. We employ a hybrid algorithm which couples point particles to a fluctuating lattice-Boltzmann fluid. We observe migration in both uniform shear and pressure driven flows, supporting the idea that migration is driven by a combination of shear and hydrodynamic interactions with the wall, rather than by the shear gradient. Recent numerical and theoretical investigations have suggested that polymers migrate toward the centerline when hydrodynamic interactions are included, but our simulations show that in sufficiently narrow channels there is a reversal of direction and the polymers move toward the wall.