• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1289-1297
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• 2005

The flow in a microchannel is usually characterized as a low Reynolds number (Re) so that good mixing is quite difficult to be achieved. In this regard, we developed a novel chaotic micromixer, named Serpentine Laminating Micromixer (SLM) in the present study, Part 1. In the SLM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: splitting/recombination and chaotic advection. The splitting and recombination (in other term, lamination) mechanism is obtained by the successive arrangement of 'F'-shape mixing units in two layers. The chaotic advection is induced by the overall three-dimensional serpentine path of the microchannel. Chaotic mixing performance of the SLM was fully characterized numerically. To compare the mixing performance, a T-type micromixer which has the same width, height and length of the SLM was also designed. The three-dimensional numerical mixing simulations show the superiority of the SLM over the T-type micromixer. From the cross-sectional simulation results of mixing patterns, the chaotic advection effect from the serpentine channel path design acts favorably to realize the ideal lamination of fluid flow as Re increases. Chaotic mixing mechanism, proposed in this study, could be easily integrated in Micro-Total-Analysis-System, Lab-on-a-Chip and so on.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2004

It is of great interest to enhance mixing performance in a microchannel in which the flow is usually characterized as a low Reynolds number (Re) so that good mixing is quite difficult to be achieved in this laminar flow regime. In this regard, we present a new chaotic passive micromixer, named Barrier Embedded Micromixer (BEM), of which the mixing mechanism is based on chaotic flows. In BEM, chaotic flow is induced by periodic perturbation of the velocity field due to periodically inserted barriers along the channel wall while a helical type of flow is obtained by slanted grooves on the bottom surface of the channel in the pressure driven flow. To experimentally compare the mixing performance, a T-microchannel and a microchannel with only slanted grooves were also fabricated. All microchannels were made of PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) from SU-8 masters that were fabricated by conventional photolithography. Mixing performance was experimentally characterized with respect to an average mixing intensity by means of color change of phenolphthalein as pH indicator. It was found that mixing efficiency decreases as Re increases for all three micromixers. Experimental results obviously indicate that BEM has better mixing performance than the other two. Chaotic mixing mechanism, suggested in this study, can be easily applied to integrated microfluidic systems , such as Micro-Total-Analysis-System, Lab-on-a-chip and so on.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1298-1306
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• 2005

In this paper, Part II, we realized the Serpentine Laminating Micromirer (SLM) which was proposed in the accompanying paper, Part I, by means of the injection molding process in mass production. In the SLM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms of splitting/recombination and chaotic advection by the successive arrangement of 'F'-shape mixing units in two layers. Mold inserts for the injection molding process of the SLM were fabricated by SU-8 photolithography and nickel electroplating. The SLM was realized by injection molding of COC (cyclic olefin copolymer) with the fabricated mold inserts and thermal bonding of two injection molded COC substrates. To compare the mixing performance, a T-type micromixer was also fabricated. Mixing performances of micromixers were experimentally characterized in terms of an average mixing color intensity of a pH indicator, phenolphthalein. Experimental results show that the SLM has much better mixing performance than the I-type micromixer and chaotic mixing was successfully achieved from the SLM over the wide range of Reynolds number (Re). The chaotic micromixer, SLM proposed in this study, could be easily integrated in Micro-Total-Analysis- System , Lab-on-a-Chip and so on.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.53-57
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• 2007

The quality of chaotic mixing in square cavity flow was studied numerically by CFD simulation and particle tracking technique. The chaotic mixing was generated by using time-periodic electro-osmotic flow. Finite Volume Method (FVM) was employed to get the stretching and folding field in cavity domain. With adjusting the initial condition of concentration distribution, the best values of modulation period and Peclet number which gave us good mixing performance was determined precisely. From $Poicar{\acute{e}}section$and Lyapunov exponents for characteristic trajectories we find that mixing performance also depends on modulation period. The higher value of modulation period, the better mixing performance wag achieved in this case. Furthermore, the results for tracking particle trajectories were also compared between using of Bilinear Interpolation and Higher-order scheme. The values of modulation period for obtaining best mixing effect were matched between using FVM and particle tracking techniques.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.6 s.237
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• pp.904-912
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• 2005

The flow in a microchannel is usually characterized as a low Reynolds number (Re) so that good mixing is quite difficult to be achieved. In this regard, we developed a novel chaotic micromixer, named Barrier Embedded Kenics Micromixer (BEKM). In the BEKM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: (i) splitting/reorientation by helical elements inside the microchannel and (ii) stretching/folding via periodically located barriers on the channel wall. The fully three-dimensional geometry of BEKM was realized by a micro-stereolithography technology, in this study, along with a Kenics micromixer and a circular T-pipe. Mixing performances of three micromixers were experimentally characterized in terms of an average mixing color intensity of phenolphthalein. Experimental results show that BEKM has better mixing performance than other two micromixers. Chaotic mixing mechanism, proposed in this study, could be integrated as a mixing component with Micro-Total-Analysis-System, Lab-on-a-chip and so on.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.729-730
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• 2007

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.49-55
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• 2007

The quality of chaotic mixing in three-dimensional micro channel flow has been numerically studied using Fractional-step method (FSM) and particle tracking techniques such as $Poincar{\acute{e}}$ section and Lyapunov exponents. The flow was driven by pressure distribution and the chaotic mixing was generated by applying alternating current to electrodes embedded on the bottom wall at a first half period and on the top wall at a second half period. The equations governing the velocity and concentration distributions were solved using FSM based on Finite Volume approach. Results showed that the mixing quality depended significantly on the modulation period. The modulation period for the best mixing performance was determined based on the mixing index for various initial conditions of concentration distribution. The optimal values of modulation period obtained by the particle tracking techniques were compared with those from the solution of concentration distribution equation using FSM and CFX software and the comparison showed their good match.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.197-208
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• 2003

Two measures of distributive mixing are examined: the standard deviation $\sigma$ and the maximum error E, among average concentrations of finite-sized samples. Curves of E versus sample size L are easily interpreted in terms of the size and intensity of the worst flaw in the mixture. E(L) is sensitive to the size of this flaw, regardless of the overall size of the mixture. The measures are used to study distributive mixing for time-periodic flows in a rectangular cavity, using the mapping method. Globally chaotic flows display a well-defined asymptotic behavior: E and $\sigma$ decrease exponentially with time, and the curves of E(L) and $\sigma$ (L) achieve a self-similar shape. This behavior is independent of the initial configuration of the fluids. Flows with large islands do not show self-similarity, and the final mixing result is strongly dependent on the initial fluid configuration.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.795-796
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• 2008

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Visualization of the mixing pattern in a non-element mixer was carried out using laser induced fluorescence(LIF) to evaluate characteristics of mixer consisting of the main flow pipe and branch flow pipes. The branch flows were injected periodically with the period $T_{in}$ normal to the main flow, and rhodamine B was mixed into the most upstream branch flow to visualize mixing pattern in the main flow pipe by LIF. The length of boundary line L of the LIF image was measured. In this study, a numerical analysis was performed to identify the mixing process of the non-element mixer, and the results were compared with experimental results. Each result was almost the same. When the number of branch flows is increased, the mixing pattern became complicated and was supposed to become chaotic. The length of boundary line L increased exponentially with an increase in the number of branch flows.