Taylor dispersion of elongated rods
Ajay Kumar, Stuart Thomson, Thomas Powers, Daniel M. Harris
Abstract
In many complex fluids, the geometry of particles in suspension can be complex, prompting the need to understand how shape influences their bulk transport. We consider the Taylor dispersion of passive, elongated Brownian rods subject to a background Poiseuille flow. Monte-Carlo simulations demonstrate that elongated particles exhibit enhanced longitudinal dispersion compared to their spherical counterparts, in excellent agreement with integral expressions derived from asymptotic analysis. For particles of high aspect-ratio, the dispersion coefficient can be collapsed along a single curve, providing a simple correction factor that extends Taylor's seminal results to elongated particles.