Abstract
An experimental study has been conducted to quantitatively characterize the motion of neutrally buoyant particles in 2-dimensional Poiseuille flow through the micron-sized circular capillaries in the range of Re (Reynolds number) $\approx0.1\sim100$. $A{\mu}-PTV$ (Particle Tracking Velocimetry) system is adopted, which consists of a double-headed Nd:YAG laser, an epi-fluorescence microscope and a cooled CCD camera. Since high shear rate can be induced due to the scale effect even at low Re, it is shown that in micro scale neutrally buoyant particles in Poiseuille flow drift away from the wall and away from the center of the capillary. Consequently, particles accumulate at the equilibrium position of $0.52\sim0.64R$ with R being the radius of the capillary, which is analogous to that of tube flow in macro scale. There is a plateau in equilibrium position at small Re, while equilibrium position starts increasing at $Re\approx30$. The outermost edge of particle cluster is closer to the center of the capillary than that in previous studies due to low Re effect. The present study quantitatively presents characteristics of particle motion in circular capillaries. Furthermore, it is expected to give optimum factors for designing microfluidic systems that are to be used fur plasma separation from the blood.