Droplet mobilization in actuated deformable tubes
Abstract
We study the mobilization of an oil droplet in a deformable, actuated constricted tube subjected to two different actuation mechanisms: hydrodynamic actuation (oscillatory body force in the fluid) and dynamic wall actuation (oscillatory traction on the tube walls). Using high-resolution fluid-structure interaction simulations, we analyze the effects of actuation frequency and amplitude on droplet transport through the constriction. Our simulations show that hydrodynamic actuation leads to a monotonic increase in the droplet's mobilization time with increasing actuation frequency, and a decrease with increasing actuation amplitude. In contrast, dynamic wall actuation exhibits a resonance effect-the mobilization time reaches a minimum at a frequency near the tube's resonant frequency. Our study highlights the potential of actuation mechanisms in deformable tubes for precise control of droplet transport in bio-microfluidic applications.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.22007,
title = {Droplet mobilization in actuated deformable tubes},
author = {Sthavishtha R. Bhopalam and Ruben Juanes and Hector Gomez},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.22007},
year = {2026}
}