Slip-Flow in Microchannels of Non-Circular Cross Sections

Abstract

Closed form solutions are presented for fully developed pressure driven slip-flow in straight microchannels of uniform noncircular cross-sections. To achieve this goal, starting from the general solution of the Poisson’s equation in the cylindrical coordinate, a least-squares-matching of boundary values is employed for applying the slip boundary condition at the wall. Then the application of boundary conditions for three different types of cross sections is examined. While the model is general enough to be extended to almost any arbitrary cross section, microchannels of polygonal (with circular as a limiting case), rectangular, and rhombic cross sections are analyzed in this study. The results are then successfully compared to the existing data in the literature.