Multiphase lattice Boltzmann simulations of droplets in microchannel networks

Li, Jonathan and Zhang, Yonghao and Reese, Jason (2012) Multiphase lattice Boltzmann simulations of droplets in microchannel networks. In: 3rd European Conference on Microfluidics, Microfluidics 2012, 2012-12-03 - 2012-12-05.

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Abstract

In this work we study droplet flows in three different microchannel networks by using a multiphase lattice Boltzmann method. It is firstly shown that the lattice Boltzmann method is suitable for simulating droplet flows in complex microchannel geometries. The effect of velocity in the channels downstream of a branching intersection on the path a droplet would take through a microchannel network is investigated. We find that, for the investigated microchannel geometries, droplets that reached a channel intersection would travel through the downstream branch with the highest local velocity.