• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.28-32
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• 2006

This study investigated the variation of flow rates in microchannels that consisted of polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) and glass using various external voltages. Three different microchannel widths and two different depths. PDMS and negative photoresist (SU-8) were used to make the microchannels by the soft lithographic method. For each depth of microchannel ($50{\mu}m$ and $100{\mu}m$), three different widths ($100{\mu}m$, $200{\mu}m$ and $300{\mu}m$) were made. In each case, several different external voltages were applied (0.3 kV, 0.35 kV, 0.4 kV and 0.45 kV) to examine the flow rates. Our results indicated that flow rate increased with an increase of the external voltage at the same microchannel width. This was because the electrical field was increased as the external voltage increased. For the same external voltage, the flow rate increased as the microchannel's width increased. These results showed that the resistance in the microchannel decreased as the microchannel's width increased. Also, to investigate the effect of microchannel's depth and width, the cross-sectional area of the microchannel was increased to the double in area. As a result, the effect of the microchannel's depth was higher at a low external voltage, and the effect of the microchannel's width was higher at a high external voltage.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.3 s.246
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• pp.255-261
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• 2006

Flow characteristics of DI water in a microchannel with a stenosis were investigated using .a micro PIV system with varying flow rate. The width and depth of the PDMS micro-channel were $100{\mu}m\;and\;50{\mu}m$, respectively. To Investigate flow characteristics in the micro-stenosis, the same experiment was carried out in a straight microchannel under the same flow rate. The measured mean velocity fields were almost symmetric with respect to the channel centerline. The experimental results are well agreed with the theoretical Hagen-Poiseuille profile. In the contraction part of the micro-stenosis, the oncoming flow is accelerated rapidly and the maximum velocity occurs at the throat, almost 4.99 time faster than that without the stenosis.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.828-837
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• 2004

The present study investigated two-phase flow distribution, phase separation and pressure drop in multi-microchannel tubes under adiabatic condition. The test section consisted of inlet and outlet headers with the inner diameter of 19.4㎜ and 15 parallel microchannel tubes. Each microchannel tube brazed to the inlet and outlet headers and had 8 rectangular ports with the hydraulic diameter of 1.32㎜. The key experimental parameters were orientation of header (horizontal and vertical), flow direction of refrigerant into the inlet header (in-line, parallel and cross flow) and inlet quality (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3). It was found that the orientation of the header had relatively large effect on the flow distribution and phase separation, while the inlet quality didn't affect much on them. The horizontal header showed the better flow distribution and phase separation characteristics than the vertical one. The parallel flow condition with the horizontal header showed the best performance for the flow distribution and phase separation characteristics under the test conditions. Two-phase pressure drops through the microchannel tubes with the horizontal header were higher than those of the microchennel tubes with the vertical header due to gravitational effect.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.22.2-22.2
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• 2005

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.8 s.227
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• pp.1190-1195
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• 2004

A novel manipulation of microfluid width in a microchannel was presented by controlling inflation of a gas boundary. The gas boundary was formed by heating water with a microheater in a semicircular shape from a chamber which was connected symmetrically to the microchannel. The formed gas boundary inflated perpendicularly to the flow direction and, consequently, the microfluid width was narrowed. The inflation and contraction were flexibly like a virtual wall and dependent on two factors: one is the flow velocity of the microfluid and the other is the pressure inside the gas boundary. Dimensions of the chamber and the microchannel width were determined empirically as same of $300\;{\mu}m$ for stable operation. The width of microfluid was manipulated manually with the microheater and could be maintained as up to $22\;{\mu}m$. The stable focusing began to be distorted when the flow velocity exceeded 17.8 mm/s.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2426-2430
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• 2007

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations of bead-spring dumbbell models under microchannel flow were performed and the effects of the deformation on their migration behavior were discussed. Dumbbells were found to migrate toward the walls or the channel center depending on the stiffness. Stiff dumbbells migrated toward the walls. In any cases, the dumbbells were found to have a stronger tendency to move toward the channel center in more deformable conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.11 s.254
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• pp.1043-1050
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• 2006

An experimental investigation was performed to study flow boiling heat transfer of deionized water in a microchannel. Measurement and evaluation of boiling heat transfer coefficients were carried out using a single horizontal rectangular microchannel having a hydraulic diameter of $100{\mu}m$. Tests were performed for mass fluxes of 90, 169 and 267 $kg/m^2$s and heat fluxes of 200-700 $kW/m^2$. Test results showed that the measured boiling heat transfer coefficients had no dependence on mass flux and vapor quality. Most macro-channel correlations of boiling heat transfer coefficient did not provide reliable predictions.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.1783-1788
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• 2004

In the present paper, a micro flow sensor, which can be used at bio-delivery systems and micro heat pumps, is developed. For this, the micro flow sensor is integrated on a quartz wafer ($SiO_2$) and is manufactured by simple and convenient microfabrication processes. The micro flow sensor aims for measuring mass flow rates in the low range of about $0{\sim}20$ SCCM. The micro flow sensor is composed of temperature sensors, a heater, and a flow microchannel. The temperature sensors and the heater are manufactured by the sputtering processes in this study. In the microfabrication processes, stainless steel masks with different patterns are used to deposit alumel and chromel for temperature sensors and nichrome for the heater on the quartz wafer. The microchannel is made of Polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) easily. A deposited quartz wafer is bonded to the PDMS microchannel by using the air plasma. Finally, we confirmed the good operation of the present micro flow sensor by measuring flow rate.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2017

The validity of friction factor theory, based upon conventional-sized passages for microchannel flows, is an active area of research. The high surface to volume ratio of a microchannel offers many advantages over macroscale devices and processes. This study focused on the laminar flow (16$161{\mu}m$ to $664{\mu}m$ for single-phase liquid flow. A controllable syringe pump was used to provide flow while a differential pressure transducer was used to record the pressure drop. These results demonstrated that a 3D printer can drastically simplify custom microchannel fabrication and still support complex features, which are typically only accessible with advanced fabrication techniques.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.915-923
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• 2008

The performance experiments for a microchannel printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) of high-performance and high-efficiency on the two technologies of micro photo-etching and diffusion bonding were performed in this study. The microchannel PCHE were experimentally investigated for Reynolds number in ranges of 100 $\sim$ 700 under various flow conditions in the hot side and the cold side. The inlet temperatures of the hot side were conducted in range of $40^{\circ}C\;{\sim}\;50^{\circ}C$ while that of the cold-side were fixed at $20^{\circ}C$. In the flow pattern, the counter flow was provided 6.8% and 10 $\sim$ 15% higher average heat transfer rate and heat transfer performance than the parallel flow, respectively. The average heat transfer rate, heat transfer performance and pressure drop increases with increasing Reynolds number in all the experiment. The increasing of inlet temperature in the experiment range has not an effect on the heat transfer performance while the pressure drop decrease slightly with that of inlet temperature. The experimental correlations to the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop factor as a function of the Reynolds number have been suggested for the microchannel PCHE.