Unsteady in-plane vortex motion in a microchannel liquid flow

Lap Man Lee, Winky Lap Wing Hau, Yi Kuen Lee, Man Wong, Yitshak Zohar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

An unsteady flow can dramatically enhance the mixing efficiency in a highly localized region, as the flow would become chaotic if time is an independent variable. In this work, the response of uniform electroosmotic flow to an oscillating electric field is first examined experimentally and numerically as a function of the driving frequency. Then a steady in-plane micro vortex flow pattern, traced by microparticles, is realized and compared to numerical simulations. Upon confirmation of the simulations for uniform but unsteady and steady but non-uniform flows, the CFD code has finally been applied to study unsteady non-uniform flow field, for which it is difficult to measure flow properties. The time evolution of liquid vortex motion in a microchannel, due to either sinusoidal or sudden electric field reversal, is numerically investigated revealing the relationship between length and time scales dominating momentum transfer in electrokinetically-driven unsteady liquid flow.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 18th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2005 Miami - Technical Digest
Pages734-737
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes
Event18th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2005 Miami - Miami Beach, FL, United States
Duration: Jan 30 2005Feb 3 2005

Publication series

NameProceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
ISSN (Print)1084-6999

Other

Other18th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2005 Miami
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMiami Beach, FL
Period1/30/052/3/05

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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