INVESTIGATION ON FABRICATION OF 3D MICROCHANNELS

Abstract

Mixing in microfluidics has become a pivotal issue in the field of microelectromechanical systems. Mixing can be enhanced in microchannels by complicating the geometry of the channel. Different microchannel structures have been studied to analyse the mixing performance. In this report, a numerical simulation has been done to compare the mixing performance of straight, serpentine and three dimensional serpentine microchannels with the help of ANSYS Fluent. The study shows that due to chaotic advection caused by formation of secondary flows, the 3D serpentine microchannel shows better mixing performance. Ultrasonic micromachining was used to fabricate 3D geometry in microchannels. Different 3D geometries like straight, L-slot and F-slot microchannels were fabricated at varying parameters of feed rate, abrasive slurry concentration and power rating. The impact of the parameters on profile accuracy, tool wear and surface quality were analysed and optimized. Slurry concentration had the highest impact on surface roughness whereas power rating was the most important factor for tool wear.