Capillary efficiency study in leaf vein morphology inspired channels

Abstract

Abstract Inspired by the capillary transport function of plant leaf veins, this study proposes three typical leaf vein features by observing a large number of leaves, including wedge shape, branch asymmetry, as well as hierarchical arrangement, and investigates their capillary transport mechanism. Not only a preliminary theoretical analysis of capillary flow in the bio-inspired channels was carried out, but the COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software was also used to simulate gas–liquid two-phase flow in biomimetic channels. The results reveal the efficient transport mechanism of the leaf vein inspired structure and provide insight into the design of capillary transmission channels.