On the use of viscous micropumps for the transport of thixotropic fluids

A cylinder rotating in an off-center position across a microchannel is known to generate a net flow for highly viscous Newtonian fluids. The mechanism is also known to be a viable option for the transport of viscoelastic or viscoplastic fluids albeit with a slight drop in performance. In the present...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inKorea-Australia rheology journal Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 55 - 69
Main Authors Pourjafar-Chelikdani, M., Heidari, M. Y., Vakili, A., Abdollahi, A., Nejad, A. Mahdavi, Sadeghy, K.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Seoul / Melbourne Korean Society of Rheology, Australian Society of Rheology 01.02.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Dimensionless numbers
Equations of motion
Fluid flow
Food Science
Materials Science
Mechanical Engineering
Microchannels
Micropumps
Newtonian fluids
Original Article
Polymer Sciences
Rotating cylinders
Rotating fluids
Soft and Granular Matter
Thixotropy
Time dependence
Viscous micropump
Thixotropy number
COMSOL
Quemada model
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:A cylinder rotating in an off-center position across a microchannel is known to generate a net flow for highly viscous Newtonian fluids. The mechanism is also known to be a viable option for the transport of viscoelastic or viscoplastic fluids albeit with a slight drop in performance. In the present work, the applicability of this mechanism is numerically investigated for the transport of (inelastic) time-dependent fluids obeying the structural-based Quemada model. By numerically solving the equations of motion, it is predicted that viscous micropumps can be used for the transport of thixotropic fluids although the obtained numerical results suggest that there exists a critical thixotropy number (a dimensionless number related to the fluid’s natural time) at which the flow rate is at its lowest value. It is shown that the critical thixotropy number can be avoided from the response of the fluid by properly choosing the geometrical parameters of the device. The general conclusion is that viscous micropumps can be deemed as an efficient mechanism for the transport of thixotropic fluids in microfluidic systems provided that the thixotropy number is sufficiently small, i.e., the fluid is strongly thixotropic. The device is predicted to be more suitable for anti-thixotropic fluids.
ISSN:1226-119X
2093-7660
DOI:10.1007/s13367-023-00083-w