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Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities

The T-shaped micro-junction is among the most used geometry in microfluidic applications, and many design modifications of the channel walls have been proposed to enhance mixing. In this work, we investigate through numerical simulations the introduction of one pair of small rectangular cavities in...

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Autores principales: Antognoli, Matteo, Tomasi Masoni, Sara, Mariotti, Alessandro, Mauri, Roberto, Salvetti, Maria Vittoria, Brunazzi, Elisabetta, Galletti, Chiara
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8879540/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35208284
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13020159
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author Antognoli, Matteo
Tomasi Masoni, Sara
Mariotti, Alessandro
Mauri, Roberto
Salvetti, Maria Vittoria
Brunazzi, Elisabetta
Galletti, Chiara
author_facet Antognoli, Matteo
Tomasi Masoni, Sara
Mariotti, Alessandro
Mauri, Roberto
Salvetti, Maria Vittoria
Brunazzi, Elisabetta
Galletti, Chiara
author_sort Antognoli, Matteo
collection PubMed
description The T-shaped micro-junction is among the most used geometry in microfluidic applications, and many design modifications of the channel walls have been proposed to enhance mixing. In this work, we investigate through numerical simulations the introduction of one pair of small rectangular cavities in the lateral walls of the mixing channel just downstream of the confluence region. The aim is to preserve the simple geometry that has contributed to spread the practical use of the T-shaped micro-junction while suggesting a modification that should, in principle, work jointly with the vortical structures present in the mixing channel, further enhancing their efficiency in mixing without significant additional pressure drops. The performance is analyzed in the different flow regimes occurring by increasing the Reynolds number. The cavities are effective in the two highly-mixed flow regimes, viz., the steady engulfment and the periodic asymmetric regimes. This presence does not interfere with the formation of the vortical structures that promote mixing by convection in these two regimes, but it further enhances the mixing of the inlet streams in the near-wall region of the mixing channel without any additional cost, leading to better performance than the classical configuration.
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spelling pubmed-88795402022-02-26 Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities Antognoli, Matteo Tomasi Masoni, Sara Mariotti, Alessandro Mauri, Roberto Salvetti, Maria Vittoria Brunazzi, Elisabetta Galletti, Chiara Micromachines (Basel) Article The T-shaped micro-junction is among the most used geometry in microfluidic applications, and many design modifications of the channel walls have been proposed to enhance mixing. In this work, we investigate through numerical simulations the introduction of one pair of small rectangular cavities in the lateral walls of the mixing channel just downstream of the confluence region. The aim is to preserve the simple geometry that has contributed to spread the practical use of the T-shaped micro-junction while suggesting a modification that should, in principle, work jointly with the vortical structures present in the mixing channel, further enhancing their efficiency in mixing without significant additional pressure drops. The performance is analyzed in the different flow regimes occurring by increasing the Reynolds number. The cavities are effective in the two highly-mixed flow regimes, viz., the steady engulfment and the periodic asymmetric regimes. This presence does not interfere with the formation of the vortical structures that promote mixing by convection in these two regimes, but it further enhances the mixing of the inlet streams in the near-wall region of the mixing channel without any additional cost, leading to better performance than the classical configuration. MDPI 2022-01-21 /pmc/articles/PMC8879540/ /pubmed/35208284 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13020159 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Antognoli, Matteo
Tomasi Masoni, Sara
Mariotti, Alessandro
Mauri, Roberto
Salvetti, Maria Vittoria
Brunazzi, Elisabetta
Galletti, Chiara
Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities
title Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities
title_full Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities
title_fullStr Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities
title_full_unstemmed Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities
title_short Mixing Improvement in a T-Shaped Micro-Junction through Small Rectangular Cavities
title_sort mixing improvement in a t-shaped micro-junction through small rectangular cavities
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8879540/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35208284
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13020159
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