• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.11c
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• pp.583-585
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• 2000

This study reports the fluidic handling method using hydrophobic patterns inside PDMS microchannels. In order to obtain hydrophobic patterns, we pattern fluorcarbon(FC) film surfaces by lift-off process. FC films are deposited by spin coating method and plasma polymerization method. Hydrophobic surfaces are used as the barriers to control fluid flow. Injected liquid is spontaneously filled up inside PDMS-microchannels by the capillary action. Liquid flow stops when it meets hydrophobic regions which can be the barrier against fluid flow. Then, again, when liquid is pressurized externally, liquid can move toward another hydrophilic region by external air pressure. Contact angle analyses are performed on fluorocarbon films to estimate the wettability of film surfaces.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2011

The performance of microchannel PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger) is superior to that of other existing commercial heat exchangers. Further, it is also more efficient than other heat exchangers. Various microchannels, whose shapes are straight (I), Wavy, Beehive, Surf, I-Wavy, I-Beehive, or I-Surf, are computationally modeled in this study. The counter-flow arrangement is used, and the flow characteristics, heat transfer, and pressure drop in the microchannels under various mass flow rate conditions are investigated. The results for I microchannel is chosen as the benchmarks and is compared with those of newly proposed microchannels. It is found that the surf-shaped microchannel is most efficient in improving the overall performance of a PCHE.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.471-479
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• 2010

The adiabatic two-phase flow in single rectangular microchannels was studied for different aspect ratios. The working fluids were liquid water and nitrogen gas. The hydraulic diameters of the rectangular microchannels were 490, 322, and $143\;{\mu}m$, and the widths of the microchannels were around $500\;{\mu}m$. The two-phase flow pattern was visualized using a high-speed camera and a long-distance microscope. This study was focused on bubble flow regimes. From the visualized images, the bubble velocity, bubble length, number of bubbles, and void fraction were evaluated. Further, the pressure drop in a single bubble was evaluated by using a unit cell model. The bubble velocity is proportional to the superficial velocity. Further, the relationship between the void fraction and the volumetric quality is linear. The pressure drop in a single elongated bubble is strongly related to the aspect ratio. Finally, the new correlation about the pressure drop of a single elongated bubble in the rectangular microchannel was proposed.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.437-446
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• 2006

A fabrication method fur high-aspect-ratio microchannels in stainless steel using laser-assisted thermochemical wet etching is reported in this paper. The fabrication of deep microchannels with an aspect ratio over ten is realized by applying a multiple etching process with an optimization of process conditions. The cross-sectional profile of the microchannels can be adjusted between rectangular and triangular shapes by properly controlling laser power and etchant concentration. Excellent dimensional uniformity is achieved among the channels with little heat-affected area. Microchannels with a width ranging from 15 to $50{\mu}m$ can be fabricated with an aspect ratio of ten and a pitch of 150 m or smaller. The effects of process variables such as laser power, scan speed, and etchant concentration on the fabrication results, including etch width, depth, and cross-sectional profile are closely examined.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.79-84
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• 2002

Most microfluidic devices such as heat sinks for cooling micro-chips, DNA chip, Lab-On-Chip, and micro pumps etc. have microchannels of various size. Therefore, the design of practical microfluidics demands detail information on flow structure inside the microchannels. However, detail velocity field measurements are rare and difficult to carry out. In addition, as the microfluidics expands, accurate understanding of microscale transport phenomena becomes very important. In this research, micro-PIV system was employed to measure the velocity fields of flow inside a micro-channel. We carried out PIV measurements for several microchannels with varying channels width, inlet and outlet shape, filters, CCD camera and ICCD camera, etc. For effective composition of micro-PIV system, first of all, it is essential to understand optics related with micro-imaging of particles and the particle dynamics encountered in micro-scale channel flows. In addition, it is necessary to find the optimal condition for given experimental environment and? micro-scale flow to be investigated. The problems encountered in measuring velocity field of micro-channel flows are discussed in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.555-560
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• 2014

This paper presents a microparticle separator using a spiral microchannel. A particle separator based on the dean vortex was designed, fabricated, and characterized. Two different spiral microchannels were fabricated. Width and initial radius of rotation in the spiral microchannel were fixed to $300{\mu}m$ and 1.75 mm, respectively. Two different depths of the microchannels were designed at $50{\mu}m$ and $80{\mu}m$. In this experimental study, the equilibrium position of microparticles was monitored by using fluorescent microbeads. In the case of a low dean number (<1.0), lift force and dean drag force were similar, indicating that microbeads were distributed to almost all areas across microchannels. However, in the case of a high dean number (>1.0), dean drag force rather than lift force was dominant, indicating that microbeads moved toward the inner wall of the spiral microchannel.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.410-420
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• 2016

The geometric dimension and shape of microchannels that are formed during surface texturing are widely studied for applications in flow control, and drag and friction reduction. In this research, a new method for controlling the deformation of U channels during micro-rolling-based surface texturing was developed. Since the width of the U channels is almost constant, controlling the depth is essential. A calibration procedure of initial rolling gap, and proportional-integral PI controllers and a linear interpolation have been applied simultaneously to control the depth. The PI controllers drive the position of the pre-U grooved roll as well as the rolling gap. The relationship between the channel depth and rolling gap is linearized to create a feedback signal in the depth control system. The depth of micro channels is studied on A2021 aluminum lamina surfaces. Overall, the experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of the method for controlling the depth of microchannels.

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.4C no.4
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• pp.155-159
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• 2004

This work reports the theoretical and experimental investigations of capillary bust valves to regulate liquid flow in microchannels. The theoretical analysis uses the Young-Laplace equation and geometrical considerations to predict the pressure at the edge of the valve opening. Numerical simulations are employed to calculate the meniscus shape evolution while the interface is pinned at the valve edge. Microchannels and valves are fabricated using soft lithography. A wafer-rotating system, which can adjust the driving pressure by rotational speed, induces a liquid flow. Experimentally measured valve-bursting pressure agrees with theoretical predictions.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2803-2810
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• 2007

Three dimensional numerical studies were carried out to investigate the effect of aspect ratio on gas slip flow in rectangular microchannels. We focused on aspect ratio effect on slip velocity, pressure distribution and mass flow rate. As aspect ratio decreases the wall slip velocity also decreases. As a result nonlinearity of pressure distribution increases. The slip velocities on sides and top/bottom walls are different and this difference decreases with increasing aspect ratio. These two velocities are equal when aspect ratio is 1. The ratios of slip mass flow rate over noslip mass flow rate increases with increasing aspect ratios.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1241-1246
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• 2004

The heat flux on a chip is rapidly increasing with decreasing the size of one. It is necessary to properly cool the high heat flux chip. One of the promising cooling methods is to apply CPL heat pipes with porous materials, for example PVA, polyethylene, and powder sintered metal plate and with microchannels in the evaporator. A small scale CPL heat pipe with PVA as wick was designed and manufactured. Since the height difference between the evaporator and the condenser is a crucial parameter in the CPL heat pipes, the performance of the heat pipes depending on the parameter was investigated. The parameter is higher the performance is better. However, the improvement rate of the performance does not increase the increase rate of the height. In addition to, the parameter effect depending on heat input was investigated.