Experimental and Numerical Investigation into Mixing Efficiency of Micromixers with Different Geometric Barriers

Abstract

This paper proposes a numerical and experimental investigation of mixing behaviors of two liquid samples in microchannels that are shaped into different geometric barriers. The micro-mixers utilized in this study are fabricated on low-cost glass slides using a simple and reliable fabrication process. Samples are driven by a hydrodynamic pump to lead them into the mixing section of the microchannels. The effects of mixing performance of various kinds of barrier shape are discussed in this study. The numerical and experimental results show that a better mixing efficiency can be obtained in the microchannels while using the elliptic-shape barriers in compare with the leaking side-channels. In this study, the simulated and experimental results are in good agreement. The investigation of mixing efficiency in microchannels with different geometric barriers could be crucial for microfluidic systems.