Peristaltic pumping of solid particles

Abstract We simulate solid particle transport by peristalsis in a two-dimensional channel with sinusoidal waves. The fluid is regarded as viscous and incompressible, and the walls of the channel and the particle as neutrally buoyant elastic boundaries immersed in this fluid. Using the immersed boundary technique, we are able to computationally model fluid-particle interaction. To demonstrate the validity of our computational approach, we first present results of computations without solid particles and compare them with existing theory and computations. We then examine how the transport of the solid particle depends upon its diameter, the Reynolds number and its initial placement in the channel. We also present evidence that the mean transport speed of a particle increases geometrically as its diameter approaches the channel width.