Viscous flow through microfabricated axisymmetric contraction/expansion geometries

We employ a state-of-the-art microfabrication technique (selective laser-induced etching) to fabricate a set of axisymmetric microfluidic geometries featuring a 4:1 contraction followed by a 1:4 downstream expansion in the radial dimension. Three devices are fabricated: the first has a sudden contra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experiments in fluids 2020-09, Vol.61 (9), Article 204
Main Authors: Pimenta, Francisco, Toda-Peters, Kazumi, Shen, Amy Q., Alves, Manuel A., Haward, Simon J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Axisymmetric flow
Engineering
Engineering Fluid Dynamics
Engineering Thermodynamics
Fluid- and Aerodynamics
Heat and Mass Transfer
Microfluidics
Newtonian fluids
Nonlinear dynamics
Numerical prediction
Particle image velocimetry
Research Article
Velocity distribution
Viscous flow
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Summary:We employ a state-of-the-art microfabrication technique (selective laser-induced etching) to fabricate a set of axisymmetric microfluidic geometries featuring a 4:1 contraction followed by a 1:4 downstream expansion in the radial dimension. Three devices are fabricated: the first has a sudden contraction followed by a sudden expansion, the second features hyperbolic contraction and expansion profiles, and the third has a numerically optimized contraction/expansion profile intended to provide a constant extensional/compressional rate along the axis. We use micro-particle image velocimetry to study the creeping flow of a Newtonian fluid through the three devices and we compare the obtained velocity profiles with finite-volume numerical predictions, with good agreement. This work demonstrates the capability of this new microfabrication technique for producing accurate non-planar microfluidic geometries with complex shapes and with sufficient clarity for optical probes. The axisymmetric microfluidic geometries examined have potential to be used for the study of the extensional properties and non-linear dynamics of viscoelastic flows, and to investigate the transport and deformation dynamics of bubbles, drops, cells, and fibers. Graphic abstract
ISSN:0723-4864
1432-1114
DOI:10.1007/s00348-020-03036-z