Engineering Commons^™

Understanding Transport Of An Elastic, Spherical Particle Through A Confining Channel, Shuaijun Li, Honghui Yu, Tai-De Li, Zi Chen, Wen Deng, Alimohammad Anbari, Jing Fan

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The transport of soft particles through narrow channels or pores is ubiquitous in biological systems and industrial processes. On many occasions, the particles deform and temporarily block the channel, inducing a built-up pressure. This pressure buildup often has a profound effect on the behavior of the respective system; yet, it is difficult to be characterized. In this work, we establish a quantitative correlation between the built-up pressure and the material and geometry properties through experiments and mechanics analysis. We fabricate microgels with a controlled diameter and elastic modulus by microfluidics. We then force them to individually pass through a constrictive …