Shear-induced Migration and Axial Development of Particles in Channel Flows of Non-Brownian Suspensions

We present an experimental study on the shear-induced migration and axial development of particles in the channel flows of non-Brownian suspensions. The suspending fluid is Newtonian. We investigate fracturing flows with a Hele-Shaw type scaling through building a unique channel setup and an advanced optical system. The local particle concentration profiles are measured via the refractive-index matching technique for a wide range of bulk volume fraction, i.e, $0.1 \leq \bar{\phi}_b\leq 0.5$. Simultaneously, the particle image velocimetry is performed to determine the velocity profile of the particle phase. We compare our experimental results with the available two-phase continuum frameworks and show discrepancies in the fully-developed and axial development of the solid volume fraction profiles. We discuss directions in which the continuum frameworks require improvements.