Orientation control and nonlinear trajectory tracking of colloidal particles using microfluidics

Dinesh Kumar, Anish Shenoy, Songsong Li, Charles M. Schroeder

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Suspensions of anisotropic Brownian particles are commonly encountered in a wide array of applications such as drug delivery and manufacturing of fiber-reinforced composites. Technological applications and fundamental studies of small anisotropic particles critically require precise control of particle orientation over defined trajectories and paths. In this work, we demonstrate robust control over the two-dimensional center-of-mass position and orientation of anisotropic Brownian particles using only fluid flow. We implement a path-following model predictive control scheme to manipulate colloidal particles over defined trajectories in position space, where the speed of movement along the path is a degree of freedom in the controller design. We further explore how the external flow field affects the orientation dynamics of anisotropic particles in steady and transient extensional flow using a combination of experiments and analytical modeling. Overall, this technique offers new avenues for fundamental studies of anisotropic colloidal particles using only fluid flow, without the need for external electric or optical fields.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number114203
JournalPhysical Review Fluids
Volume4
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 18 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computational Mechanics
  • Modeling and Simulation
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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