Numerical Simulation of Microfluidic Flow Using a Combination of Micro and Macro Computational Techniques: Scaling Issues


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Recent literature has demonstrated the possibilities of using configurable surfaces to enhance the flow of fluids in MEMS devices. Not only are surface properties important in fluid delivery, the inherent problems of mixing by diffusion in microfluidic laminar flow needs to be over come to provide more efficient fluidics for bio-sensors. While investigating the use of synthetic jets for fluid mixing in MEMS devices, it was necessary to compute both the fluid flow and concentration fields. The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) has been used to compute the flow field data. The micro formulation of LBM was supplemented with a macro-scale, finite difference formulation of the convection-diffusion equation. While this seems easy enough, it became apparent that the main issue with this hybrid approach is proper scaling of the grid spacing and time increment. This work presents the results of the hybrid method as applied to Re

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Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 1, Technical Proceedings of the 2003 Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 1
Published: February 23, 2003
Pages: 242 - 245
Industry sectors: Medical & Biotech | Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Micro & Bio Fluidics, Lab-on-Chip
ISBN: 0-9728422-0-9