Abstract
A surface tension driven micropump harnessing the pressure difference generated by drops of different curvature radii proves to be a simple and attractive passive method to drive fluid flow in microdevices. Here we observed the appearance of backward flow when the initial sizes of the droplets at the inlet and outlet ports are similar. To explain this phenomenon several hypotheses have been investigated. Consideration of the inertia of the fluid in the channel revealed that it alone is insufficient to explain the observed backward flow. We discovered that rotational flow inside the outlet droplet could be a source of inertia, explaining the generation of the backward flow. In addition, we have experimentally determined that the ratio of the volumes of the initial outlet drop and inlet drop correlates with the occurrence of the backward flow.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 087002 |
| Journal | Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 Aug 1 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Instrumentation
- Materials Science(all)
- Mechanics of Materials
- Computational Mechanics
Cite this
Backward flow in a surface tension driven micropump. / Ju, Jongil; Park, Joong Yull; Kim, Kyung Chun; Kim, Hyundong; Berthier, Erwin; Beebe, David J.; Lee, Sang Hoon.
In: Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 18, No. 8, 087002, 01.08.2008.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Backward flow in a surface tension driven micropump
AU - Ju, Jongil
AU - Park, Joong Yull
AU - Kim, Kyung Chun
AU - Kim, Hyundong
AU - Berthier, Erwin
AU - Beebe, David J.
AU - Lee, Sang Hoon
PY - 2008/8/1
Y1 - 2008/8/1
N2 - A surface tension driven micropump harnessing the pressure difference generated by drops of different curvature radii proves to be a simple and attractive passive method to drive fluid flow in microdevices. Here we observed the appearance of backward flow when the initial sizes of the droplets at the inlet and outlet ports are similar. To explain this phenomenon several hypotheses have been investigated. Consideration of the inertia of the fluid in the channel revealed that it alone is insufficient to explain the observed backward flow. We discovered that rotational flow inside the outlet droplet could be a source of inertia, explaining the generation of the backward flow. In addition, we have experimentally determined that the ratio of the volumes of the initial outlet drop and inlet drop correlates with the occurrence of the backward flow.
AB - A surface tension driven micropump harnessing the pressure difference generated by drops of different curvature radii proves to be a simple and attractive passive method to drive fluid flow in microdevices. Here we observed the appearance of backward flow when the initial sizes of the droplets at the inlet and outlet ports are similar. To explain this phenomenon several hypotheses have been investigated. Consideration of the inertia of the fluid in the channel revealed that it alone is insufficient to explain the observed backward flow. We discovered that rotational flow inside the outlet droplet could be a source of inertia, explaining the generation of the backward flow. In addition, we have experimentally determined that the ratio of the volumes of the initial outlet drop and inlet drop correlates with the occurrence of the backward flow.
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U2 - 10.1088/0960-1317/18/8/087002
DO - 10.1088/0960-1317/18/8/087002
M3 - Article
VL - 18
JO - Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
JF - Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
SN - 0960-1317
IS - 8
M1 - 087002
ER -