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Investigations of vortex formation in microbifurcations

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Abstract

The paper is dedicated to experimental studies and numerical simulations of viscous and viscoelastic flows in microchannels. The present work investigates separation phenomena and the formation of vortical structures in two microbifurcations with one closed branch: (1) Y-bifurcation with a square cross section and (2) T-bifurcation with trapezoidal sections and small aspect ratios depth/width. The main goal of the study is to characterize the dynamics of the vortex from the vicinity of Y-bifurcation and to emphasize the changes induced by the presence of elasticity on the local path lines. Velocity measurements and flow pattern visualizations of Newtonian fluid (deionized water) and weakly elastic polymer solution (low concentration of polyacrylamide in water) are obtained using a μPIV system. Numerical computations are performed in 2D and 3D flow configurations with the commercial FLUENT code. The Newtonian simulations offer very precise descriptions of the vortical structures for all flow regimes. In the case of polymer solution, the comparison between experimental data and numerical solutions for generalized Newtonian models prove the dominant role of elasticity in modifications induced on the vortical patterns in the analyzed microgeometries. The present topic is of great interest in developing novel microfluidic applications which require precise control of the hydrodynamics of viscoelastic fluids in the vicinity of complex geometries and patterned surfaces.

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Acknowledgments

Catalin Mihai Balan acknowledges the financial support of the CNCSIS Grant BD 73 received during his PhD work in the period 2008–2011. The experiments and numerical simulations where performed at REOROM Laboratory, Politehnica University of Bucharest. The authors are very thankful to Assoc. Prof. Ilinca Nastase, who represents the DANTEC Company in Romania and to Dr. Tiberiu Barbat for his advice in obtaining the numerical results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. L10, Micro and Nano Fluidics Laboratory, National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies IMT - Bucharest, 126A Erou Iancu Nicolae Street, Bucharest, Romania

    Cătălin Mihai Bălan

  2. REOROM Laboratory, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, 313 Splaiul Independentei, Bucharest, Romania

    Cătălin Mihai Bălan, Diana Broboană & Corneliu Bălan

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  1. Cătălin Mihai Bălan
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  2. Diana Broboană
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  3. Corneliu Bălan
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Correspondence to Cătălin Mihai Bălan.

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Bălan, C.M., Broboană, D. & Bălan, C. Investigations of vortex formation in microbifurcations. Microfluid Nanofluid 13, 819–833 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-012-1005-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-012-1005-8

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