The Measurements of Water Flow Rate in the T-shape Microchannels Based on the Scanning Micro-PIV Technique

摘要

In this study, the scanning microfluidic particle image velocimetry (scanning micro-PIV) technique is used to measure the water flow rate in a T-shape microchannel with the inlet and outlet width being 300 μm and 200 μm, respectively. The standard flow rates controlled by the syringe pump are ranging from 3.508 to 11.693 μL/min. The quasi-three-dimensional velocities at the branch point of the T-shape microchannel are constructed by measuring the two-dimensional velocities on 11 fluid layers from the bottom of microchannel to the top. Based on this, the flow rates are calculated by the discrete integration of velocity distributions on the cross-section of microchannel. The relative errors of the flow rates of the inlet and outlet are all within 3%, and we conclude that the main factors affecting the measurement precision of flow rate include the wall roughness of the microchannel, the spatial resolution of microscopic system and the algorithm of velocity evaluation.