Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MS)
College, School or Department Name
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Advisor
Jeffrey Allen
Abstract
The area of microfluidics has increased in popularity with such fields as MEMS, microreactors, microscaleheat exchangers, etc. A comprehensive understanding of dissipation mechanisms for fluid flow in microchannels is required to accurately predict the behavior in these small systems. Tests were performed using a constant pressure potential created by two immiscible fluids juxtaposed in a microchannel. This study focused on the flow and dissipation mechanisms in round and square microchannels. There are four major dissipation mechanisms in slug flow; wall shear, dissipation at the contact line, menisci interaction and the stretching of the interface. A force balance between the internal driving potential, viscous drag and interface stretching was used to develop a model for the prediction of the velocity of a bislug in a microchannel. Interface stretching is a dissipation mechanism that has been included due to the unique system properties and becomes increasingly more important as the bislug decreases in length.
Recommended Citation
Hernandez, Joseph E., "Bislug flow in circular and noncircular channels and the role of interface stretching on energy dissipation", Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2008.