Micromachines (Oct 2024)

Consistent Evaluation Methods for Microfluidic Mixers

  • Oliver Blaschke,
  • Jonas Kluitmann,
  • Jakob Elsner,
  • Xie Xie,
  • Klaus Stefan Drese

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15111312
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 11
p. 1312

Abstract

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The study presents a unifying methodology for characterizing micromixers, integrating both experimental and simulation techniques. Focusing on Dean mixer designs, it employs an optical evaluation for experiments and a modified Sobolev norm for simulations, yielding a unified dimensionless characteristic parameter for the whole mixer at a given Reynolds number. The results demonstrate consistent mixing performance trends across both methods for various operation points. This paper also proposes enhancements in the evaluation process to improve accuracy and reduce noise impact. This approach provides a valuable framework for optimizing micromixer designs, essential in advancing microfluidic technologies.

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