Shear-induced particle migration and size segregation in bidisperse suspension flowing through symmetric T-shaped channel

Abstract

Transport of dense suspension in T-shape channels is encountered in many practical applications. We report numerical simulations of bidisperse suspension flowing through symmetric T-shape channels in converging as well as diverging flow conditions. The difference in the migration flux of the two species leads to size segregation, and this causes alteration of velocity and concentration profiles in the downstream locations of confluence or bifurcation. The velocity and concentration profiles for bidispersed suspension are compared with that of the monodisperse case. The effect of the particle size ratio and the concentration of individual species on the size segregation are investigated. Depending upon the particle size ratio and species concentration, one or both species enriched the channel center. For a suspension comprised of an equal concentration of both species, larger particles always enriched the channel center. On the other hand, the position of the concentration peak for smaller particles strongly depends on the size ratio. The segregation behavior in the different branches of the channel was observed to be influenced by the particle size ratio.