This paper presents a numerical study of controlling the flow rate and the concentration in a microchannel network by utilizing induced-charge electrokinetic flow (ICEKF). ICEKF over an electrically conducting surface in a microchannel will generate vortices, which can be used to adjust the flow rates and the concentrations in different microchannel branches. The flow field and concentration fi...

As the scale of devices becomes small, thermal control and heat dissipation from these devices can be effectively accomplished through the implementation of microchannel passages. The small passages provide a high surface area to volume ratio that enables higher heat transfer rates. High performance microchannel heat exchangers are also attractive in applications where space and/or weight const...

The deformation and recovery behaviors of multilayer microcapsules were investigated after being forced to flow through a microchannel. The microchannel device with a constriction (5.7 μm in depth) in the middle was designed, and the multilayer microcapsules with different size and layer thickness (and thereby different mechanical strength) were used. Deformation in the microchannel was observe...

A robust and low dead volume world-to-chip interface for thermoplastic microfluidics has been developed. The high pressure fluidic port employs a stainless steel needle inserted into a mating hole aligned to an embedded microchannel, with an interference fit used to increase pressure resistance. Alternately, a self-tapping threaded needle screwed into a mating hole is also demonstrated. In both...

The velocity slip of a fluid at a wall is one of the most typical phenomena in microscale gas flows. This paper presents a flow analysis considering the velocity slip in a capacitive micro gas flow sensor based on pressure difference measurements along a microchannel. The tangential momentum accommodation coefficient (TMAC) measurements of a particular channel wall in planar microchannels will ...

Current clinical methods for the separation of whole blood into blood cells and cell-free plasma are currently based on large facility equipment, such as centrifuges. The disadvantage of this process is that the patients must have assays performed at the hospital or laboratory where the separation facility is located. The present study presents a design for microfluidic chips with different mic...

This study examines the pressure drop characteristics of subcooled two-phase microchannel heat sinks. A new model is proposed, which depicts the subcooled flow as consisting of a homogeneous two-phase flow layer near the heated walls of the microchannel and a second subcooled bulk liquid layer. This model is intended for conditions where subcooled flow boiling persists along the entire microcha...

A mechanism for controlling the mixing of highly viscous biosamples at the microliter scale is presented. Existing methods for mixing biosamples using microstirrers or shaking microwells are only effective for non-highly viscous materials. The proposed mechanism mixes monoolein, a highly viscous biosample, with water/membrane protein solution in a microdevice called microcapsule using a microch...

Microfluidic devices where the microchannel walls were decorated with micro and nanostructures were fabricated using 3D nanomolding. Using 3D molded microfluidic devices with microchannel walls decorated with microscale gratings, the fluid mixing behavior was investigated through experiments and numerical simulation. The use of microscale gratings in the micromixer was predicated by the fact th...

Running head: Lateral migration of cells in a microchannel