With fast development of microfluidic systems, micro-mixing becomes a very important issue. Various attempts have been made to develop passive and active micromixers, wherein the mixing efficiency is mainly dependent on the diffusion coefficient and diffusion mechanism. This paper reports modeling and fabrication of a 3D micromixer based on the principle of sequential lamination for efficient mixing. Simulation of the square tube geometry with varying inlet velocity was performed. The improvement in the mixing efficiency is attributed to the increase in the contact surface between the different fluids decreasing the diffusion path in order to improve the molecular diffusion. The design approach in the present case is also supported by analytical treatment which indicates superiority of 2D transverse flows while designing a micromixer. The optimized parameters from CFD simulation were used for fabrication of the micromixer by standard photolithographic and soft lithographic techniques.
展开▼
