Motion and deformation of immiscible droplet in plane Poiseuille flow at low Reynolds number

Abstract

Droplet migration in plane Poiseuille flow is numerically investigated with a dissipative particle dynamics method. The single droplet deformation in the channel flow is first studied to verify the current method and the physical model. The effect of the viscosity ratio between the droplet and the solvent and the effect of the confinement are systematically investigated. The droplet is in an off-centerline equilibrium position with a specific selection of the parameters. A large viscosity ratio makes the droplet locate in a near-wall equilibrium position, and a large capillary number makes the droplet migrate to the near-centerline region of the channel. For the droplet migration at the same Capillary number, there is a critical width of the channel, which is less than twice of the droplet diameter, and the droplet will only migrate to the channel centerline if the width is less than this critical value.