Modeling of fluid flow in capillary channels
Open Access
- Author:
- Zhang, Zhifeng
- Graduate Program:
- Engineering Science and Mechanics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 31, 2018
- Committee Members:
- Corina Stefania Drapaca, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Corina Stefania Drapaca, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Albert Eliot Segall, Committee Member
Christian Peco Regales, Committee Member
Xiaofeng Liu, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Capillary blockage
Constricted channel
Capillary exchange
Leaky channel
Droplet dynamics
Fluid mechanics
Thermodynamics
VEG method
Mathematical modeling - Abstract:
- Flow in capillary channels (capillary flow) occurs throughout nature, biology, and engineering. Recently, two types of capillary channels have been widely investigated: a narrow constricted capillary and a leaky capillary. Theoretical studies on these two types of capillary flow have become necessary due to their increasing significance in device miniaturization, drug delivery, microfluidics, pathology, and chemical engineering. This dissertation proposes three theoretical models in order to understand the physics of these two capillary flows and inspire future research. Part I discusses fluid mechanics in a narrow constricted capillary. This part is divided into two models. Model I proposes a new concept: minimum impulse critical velocity. This concept can be used in the optimization of a droplet transported through a narrow constricted capillary channel. Model 2 proposes an analytical model to predict the transient pressure of squeezing a viscous droplet through a narrow constricted channel. This model was developed using the combination of the Young- Laplace law and the Hagen–Poiseuille law. Part II discusses thermodynamics in a leaky capillary. Model 3 proposes a new evaluation parameter for a leaky capillary channel based on the virtual entropy generation (VEG) method. We believe the above theoretical studies will inspire future industry, engineering operation, and biological understandings.