• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.11-15
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• 2012

Inertial migration phenomena of phytoplankton in pipe flows were investigated using a digital holography technique. As the Reynolds number increases, the microorganisms suspended in a pipe flow are focused at a certain radial position which is called equilibrium position or pinch point. In this study, the effects of the size of microorganism and Reynolds number in the range of 1 < Re < 78 on the inertial migration were investigated and the results are compared with those for solid particles under similar experimental conditions. As a result, the equilibrium position for the elastic microorganisms is not so distinct, compared to the solid particles. This results from deformation of elastic body shape caused by shear-gradient of surrounding flow.