Abstract
This study investigates transient secondary flow in a rectangular curved microchannel in which the fluid is driven by the application of an external dc or ac electric field. The resultant flow field evolutions within the microchannel are simulated using the backwards Euler time stepping numerical method in order to clarify the relationship between the changes in the transverse flow field conditions and the intensity of the applied electric field. The transient secondary flow evolutions provide evidence of the growth and decay of vortices in the transverse section. As the applied dc or ac electric field intensity is activated, a small vortex appears in each corner of the microchannel. Both upper and lower corner vortices gradually grow in size and strength and finally merge to form a single vortex, which compresses the original recirculation in the upper and lower half of the transverse section. In this study, the formation of these vortices is investigated through total applied force per unit area existing in the flow. The velocity magnitude of the vortices can be as high as 15% of the core axial speed.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 463-473 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2005 Mar |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering