Topology optimization of microfluidic mixers

• Published in: International journal for numerical methods in fluids Vol. 61; no. 5; pp. 498 - 513
• Main Authors: Andreasen, Casper Schousboe, Gersborg, Allan Roulund, Sigmund, Ole
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 20.10.2009; Wiley
• Subjects: Applied fluid mechanics; Computational fluid dynamics; Computational methods in fluid dynamics; convection dominated transport; Design engineering; Exact sciences and technology; finite element methods; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fluidics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); incompressible flow; laminar flow; Mathematical models; micro-fluids; microfluidic mixing; Microfluidics; Mixers; Navier-Stokes; optimization; Physics; porous media; Pressure drop; sensitivity analysis; stabilized FEM; Topology optimization; transport; Mixing; incompressible flow; sensitivity analysis; convection dominated transport; Mixers; Optimization; Finite element method; Micromixing; Navier-Stokes; Modelling; stabilized FEM; topology optimization; Transport equation; Computational fluid dynamics; Digital simulation; Topology; transport; microfluidic mixing; micro-fluids; Laminar flow; Pressure drop; finite element methods; Incompressible fluid; Microstructure; porous media; Microfluidics
• ISSN: 0271-2091; 1097-0363; 1097-0363
• DOI: 10.1002/fld.1964

This paper demonstrates the application of the topology optimization method as a general and systematic approach for microfluidic mixer design. The mixing process is modeled as convection dominated transport in low Reynolds number incompressible flow. The mixer performance is maximized by altering the layout of flow/non‐flow regions subject to a constraint on the pressure drop between inlet and outlet. For a square cross‐sectioned pipe the mixing is increased by 70% compared with a straight pipe at the cost of a 2.5 fold increase in pressure drop. Another example where only the bottom profile of the channel is a design domain results in intricate herring bone patterns that confirm findings from the literature. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.