The Design and Investigation of Hybrid a Microfluidic Micromixer

Autor: Muhammad Waqas, Giedrius Janusas, Vytenis Naginevičius, Arvydas Palevicius
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Applied Sciences, Vol 14, Iss 12, p 5315 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 14125315
2076-3417
DOI: 10.3390/app14125315
Popis: Today, microfluidics has become a revolutionary interdisciplinary topic with considerable attention in a wide range of biotechnology applications. In this research work, a numerical investigation of a microfluidic micromixer is carried out using a hybrid actuation approach with different micropillar shapes and gaps. For this purpose, COMSOL Multiphysics v.5.2. is used with three different physics, such as thermoviscous acoustic physics to solve acoustic governing equations, laminar physics to solve fluid flow governing equations, and diluted transport species to solve mixing governing equations. The simulations were carried out at different Reynolds numbers such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 with an oscillation frequency of 15 kHz. The results were in the form of acoustic characteristics such as acoustic pressure, acoustic velocity, acoustic stream, mixing index, and fluid flow behaviour at various Reynolds numbers. The results revealed that the inclusion of micropillars improved the mixing performance and strength of the acoustic field, resulting in an improvement of the mixing performance compared to the case without micropillars. In addition, the mixing performance is also investigated at different Reynolds numbers, and a higher mixing index is investigated at lower Reynolds numbers. Moreover, it was also investigated that blade-shaped micropillars with 0.150 mm gaps deliver the best results compared to the other cases, and the maximum and minimum values of the mixing index are 0.97 and 0.72, respectively, at Reynolds number 2. The main reason behind this larger mixing index at low Reynolds numbers is due to the inclusion of micropillars that enhance the diffusion rate and contact area, leading to the homogenisation of the heterogeneous fluids in the microchamber. The obtained results can be extremely helpful for the design and modifications of a hybrid microfluidics micromixer.
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