Migration of spherical particles in a confined shear flow of Giesekus fluid

The lateral migration of a spherical particle in a sheared Giesekus fluid is numerically studied by the direct-forcing fictitious domain method. The model is first validated by comparing the simulation results with the available data in the literature. Effects of the viscosity ratio, shear thinning, Weissenberg number, and wall confinement on the particle migration are examined. Results show that the particle migrates toward the wall, irrespective of whether the fluid is shear thinning. The wall confinement, shear thinning, and high Weissenberg number could respectively facilitate the particle lateral migration. While the effect of viscosity ratio on the particle migration is not monotonic, a separatrix value is found which divides the viscosity ratio into two ranges. Moreover, effects of rheological properties on the particle angular velocity and its variation throughout the migration pathway are also explored, and the position where the angular velocity starts to decrease is affected by fluid rheological properties.