Dynamic Modeling and Flow Distribution of Complex Micron Scale Pipe Network

Abstract

A fluid simulation calculation method of the microfluidic network is proposed as a means to achieve the flow distribution of the microfluidic network. This paper quantitatively analyzes the influence of flow distribution in microfluidic devices impacted by pressure variation in the pressure source and channel length. The flow distribution in microfluidic devices with three types of channel lengths under three different pressure conditions is studied and shows that the results obtained by the simulation calculation method on the basis of the fluid network are close to those given by the calculation method of the conventional electrical method. The simulation calculation method on the basis of the fluid network studied in this paper has computational reliability and can respond to the influence of microfluidic network length changes to the fluid system, which plays an active role in Lab-on-a-chip design and microchannel flow prediction.

Editorial for the Special Issue on Heat and Mass Transfer in Micro/Nanosystems

“…On the other hand, Jbeili and Zhang [ 6 ] examined the convective heat transfer performances of flows through porous materials, and found that, in addition to the porosity, the aspect ration of the microscopic porous structure and the possible interfacial thermal resistance can also affect the macroscopic thermal performance of the porous media. For an efficient evaluation of the flow and pressure distributions in a microchannel network, Zhao et al [ 7 ] introduced an electric circuit analogy and applied it to study the effect of microchannel length on the flow behaviors. Another interesting study is presented by Huang et al [ 8 ], where the immersed boundary method has been combined with the lattice Boltzmann method to study the trajectory of a neutrally buoyant circular particle in the pulsatile channel flow.…”