• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.27-30
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• 2005

In a microfluidic chips pressure driven flow or electro-osmotic flow has been usually employed to deliver bio-samples. Flow in the chips is usually slow and the mixing performance is poor. A micro-mixer with a rapid mixing is important for practical applications. In this study a newly designed and electro-osmotic driven micro-mixer is proposed. This design is comprised of a channel and a series of metal electrodes periodically attached on the side surface. In this configuration electro-osmotic flows and the stirring effects are simulated three-dimensionally using a commercial code, CFD-ACE. Focus is given the effect on the electro-osmotic flow characteristics under the local variation of the electric field.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.221-231
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• 2004

A kinetic theory analysis is made of low-speed gas flows in a microfluidic system consisted of three microchannels in series. The Boitzmann equation simplified by a collision model is solved by means of a finite difference approximation with the discrete ordinate method. For the evaluation of the present method results are compared with those from the DSMC method and an analytical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations with slip boundary conditions. Calculations are made for flows at various Knudsen numbers and pressure ratios across the channel. The results compared well with those from the DSMC method. It is shown that the analytical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations with slip boundary conditions which is suited fur fully developed flows can give relatively good results. In predicting the geometrically complex flows up to a Knudsen number of about 0.06. It is also shown that the present method can be used to analyze extremely low-speed flow fields for which the DSMC method is Impractical.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.163-166
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• 2006

This paper presents numerical results of fluid flows and mixing in a microfluidic device for AC electroosmotic flow (AC-EOF) with coplanar electrodes on top and bottom walls. Differently from previous EOF a channel which attached a couple of coplanar electrodes can be utilized to mix a target liquid with a reagent. In this study we propose a method of controlling fluid flows and mixing enhancement. To obtain the flow and mixing characteristics, numerical computations are performed by using a commercial code, CFX10. It was found that the flow near the coplanar electrodes is of 3-D complex flows and vortices between the other electrodes, and as a consequence the AC-electroosmotic flow on the electrodes plays an important role in mixing the liquid.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.84-85
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• 2004

Experimental study was conducted to characterize shear-induced lateral migration of $1.0-{\mu}m-diameter$ Brownian particles flowing through a rectangular microchannel which can be used to deliver small amount of liquids, drugs, biological agents and particles in microfluidic devices. Measurements were obtained by using a mercury lamp with a light of 532-nm wavelength, an inverted epi-fluorescence microscope, and a cooled CCD camera to record particle images. Peclet number was used as a parameter to assess the lateral distribution of the particles at a fixed volume fraction of $0.1\%$. It was shown that as Pe increased, particles were moved toward the centerline of the channel, which is in good agreement with previous studies.

• 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.77-83
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• 2007

This paper presents numerical and experimental works for simultaneous pumping and mixing small liquid using asymmetric microelectrode arrays, based on AC electroosmotic flows. To this end, four arrangements of electrode pairs were considered with diagonal/herringbone shapes. Numerical simulations were made of three-dimensional geometries by using the linear theory. The results indicated that the helical flow motions induced by the electrode arrays play a significant role in the mixing enhancement. The pumping performance was influenced by the slip velocity at the center region of the channel compared to that near the side walls. To validate the numerical predictions, the microfluidic devices were made through MEMS. The flow rate was obtained by using micro PIV, increasing the applied frequency. The electrolyte was potassium chloride solution. The flow patterns above electrodes were visualized to see lateral flow for mixing. The experimental results showed good agreements with the numerical predictions.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.423-426
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• 2002

A custom micro-PIV optics assembly has been used to measure the flow field inside a T-shaped microchannel. The micro-PIV system consists of microscope objectives of various magnifications, a dichroic cube, and an 8-bit CCD camera. Fluorescent particles of diameters 620nm have been used with a Nd:YAG laser and color filters. A programmable syringe pump with Teflon tubings were used to inject particle-seeded distilled water into the channel at flow rates of $420,\;40,\;60{\mu}L/hr$. The microchannels are fabricated with PDMS with a silicon mold, then $O_2-ion$ bonded onto a slide glass. Results show differences in flow characteristics and resolution according to fluid injection rates, and magnifications, respectively. The results show PIV results with vector-to-vector distances of $2{\mu}m$ with 32 pixel-square interrogation windows at $50{\%}$ overlap.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.10
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• pp.1269-1274
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• 2014

Due to the presence of Dean flow in curved ducts, helical channels have drawn attention recently because of the practical industrial applications. The manipulation of fluids through microfluidic devices is widely used in many scientific and industrial areas. In the present study, numerical simulations were performed on a helical microchannel to predict the impact of different design parameters that affect Dean flow. Important geometric parameters such as the channel cross section, pitch, radius of curvature, and number of turns were considered for the analysis. The study also incorporates the effect of varying flow rate on Dean flows. It was found from the simulation results that microchannel cross section and pitch have a significant impact on maintaining the Dean flow, compared to the radius of curvature, number of turns, and flow rate.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1752-1757
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• 2008

Simple and highly efficient droplet merging method is proposed, which enables two nanoliter or picoliter droplets to merge regularly in a straight microchannel. We observe that two droplets of the same size but of different viscosities are merged by velocity difference induced as they are transported with the carrier fluid. To make viscosity difference, the mass ratio of water and glycerol is varied. Two droplets of the same size or of different sizes are generated alternatingly in the cross channel by controlling flowrates. This droplet merging method can be used to mix or encapsulate one target sample with another material, so that it can be applied to cell lysis, particle synthesis, drug discovery, hydrogel-bead production, and so on.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.21-26
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• 2011

Hydrodynamic focusing technique to generate focused flow has been used for flow cytometry in microfluidic devices. However, devices with circular capillary tubes made of glass are not suitable for flow visualization or optical signal detection because the rays of light are distorted at the curved interface. We devised a new acrylic chamber assembled with a pulled micropipette and a rectangular microchannel made of glass. This new channel geometry enabled us to visualize the three-dimensional (3D) flow characteristics with confocal imaging technique. We analyzed the 3D hydrodynamic focusing in a circular capillary tube and a rectangular microchannel over a practical range of flow rates, viscosities and pressure drops.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2460-2464
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• 2008

The present paper suggests new method to know the effects of molecular diffusion and the helicity of microchannel flows on mixing in passive micromixers, which are essential components of a microfluidic chip. In this study, 'Helix Index' is newly defined as the magnitude of chaotic advection. Relationship between Helix Index and Mixing Index is analyzed numerically such as the wide range of Peclet and Reynolds numbers in three dimensional serpentine microchannel when using soluble solutions (water/glycerol). As a result, a simple algebraic equation is derived by this relationship based on a regression analysis. The algebraic equation is found to be able to accurately predict the mixing performance without solving the coupled, complex momentum and mass transfer equations.