Optimized Simulation and Validation of Particle Advection in Asymmetric Staggered Herringbone Type Micromixers

Abstract

This paper presents and compares two different strategies in the numerical simulation of passive microfluidic mixers based on chaotic advection. In addition to flow velocity field calculations, concentration distributions of molecules and trajectories of microscale particles were determined and compared to evaluate the performance of the applied modeling approaches in the proposed geometries. A staggered herringbone type micromixer (SHM) was selected and studied in order to demonstrate finite element modeling issues. The selected microstructures were fabricated by a soft lithography technique, utilizing multilayer SU-8 epoxy-based photoresist as a molding replica for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) casting. The mixing processes in the microfluidic systems were characterized by applying molecular and particle (cell) solutions and adequate microscopic visualization techniques. We proved that modeling of the molecular concentration field is more costly, in regards to computational time, than the particle trajectory based method. However, both approaches showed adequate qualitative agreement with the experimental results.

Fabrication of 3D Microfluidic Channels and In‐Channel Features Using 3D Printed, Water‐Soluble Sacrificial Mold

“…We note that fabrication of micromixer consisting of SHGs at one surface can be achieved in photolithography with multiple steps and alignment . Alternatively, an SHGs mixer placed on the top and bottom of a channel can be achieved by using a milling machine and fabricate parts separately before assembling them together.…”

Development of small-volume, microfluidic chaotic mixers for future application in two-dimensional liquid chromatography

“…27 Another study showed that more mixing cycles lead to better mixing efficiency than more grooves per cycle. 29 Also, previous experiments reported by Stroock 14,30 showed that grooves with an oblique angle of 45 (SG) and an intersection angle of 90 (HG) can generate maximum transverse ows.…”

Lab-on-a-chip rendszerek a betegágy melletti diagnosztikában

“…(Érdemes itt megjegyezni, hogy a mikroszkopikus karakterisztikus méretek miatt az áramlások jellemzően laminárisak -alacsony a jellemző Reynolds-szám -, így a keveredés alapesetben csak diffúzióval valósulhat meg.) A kaotikus advekción alapuló (keresztirányú másodla-gos csatornákat is tartalmazó) mikrofl uidikai keverőstruktúra viselkedését a 4. ábra mutatja be [14].…”