Fluid filling into micro-fabricated reservoirs
Journal
Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical
Journal Volume
97-98
Pages
131-138
Date Issued
2002
Author(s)
Abstract
This study reports that the success of reservoir-filling strongly depends on the designs of the hydrophilic wall surface and the well shape/size of the flow network. The idea is illustrated both by experiments and numerical simulations: micro-particle-image-velocimetry (£g-PIV) system is setup to monitor the process of a liquid slug moving in and out of the micro-reservoir and numerical computations are performed by solving first principle equations to provide the details of the flow process. The cross-check between measurements and computations validate the computations. Numerical computations solve conservation equations similar to homogeneous flow model used in two phase flow calculation in cooperation with volume-of-fluid (VOF) interface tracking methodology and continuum surface force (CSF) model. The simulations show that wall surface property as hydrophilic/hydrophobic is a dominating factor in filling processes of reservoirs of various shapes. A flow system consisting of micro-channels and micro-wells is fabricated using MEMS technology to demonstrate the filling process and validate numerical simulation. The agreement between measurement and computation helps to fully understand the process.
Subjects
Computational model
Hydrophilic
Micro-reservoir
Surface tension
Type
conference paper