Non-contact dielectrophoretic forcing of particle-laden flow: Momentum transfer and flow modulation in a blood-mimicking suspension

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) provides a non-contact forcing mechanism for polarizable particles suspended in non-uniform electric fields. While DEP is commonly used for particle manipulation, trapping, and separation, its role as a distributed hydrodynamic forcing mechanism in particle-laden suspension flow remains less explored. This study investigates DEP-assisted flow modulation in a diluted glycerol–SiO2 suspension used as a controllable blood-mimicking particle-laden phantom. The fracture-healing context provides the transport motivation, whereas the central focus is the particle–fluid momentum-transfer mechanism. Three external coil geometries, Catenary, Lintearia, and Valeria, were evaluated at excitation currents of 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 A, respectively. DEP-induced particle forcing was interpreted through a momentum-transfer framework, in which particle acceleration, particle–fluid slip, and viscous coupling contribute to macroscopic flow enhancement. The displaced volume was treated as an integral flow response relative to a nominal 100 ml no-DEP baseline. The results showed a clear coil- and current-dependent enhancement. At 0.75 A, displaced volumes of 120±4, 140±6, and 200±10 ml were obtained for the Catenary, Lintearia, and Valeria coils, respectively. The strongest response occurred for the Valeria coil at 1.00 A, reaching 215±9 ml. Model predictions agreed closely with experiments, with a root-mean square error (RMSE) of 5.14 ml, a mean absolute error (MAE) of 4.22 ml, a maximum absolute error (MaxAE) of 8.00 ml, and a Pearson correlation coefficient of r=0.995. These findings demonstrate that DEP can modulate particle-laden suspension flow through field-induced particle forcing and hydrodynamic momentum transfer.