Numerical Optimization Strategy for Determining 3D Flow Fields in Microfluidics

A. Eden [1], M. Sigurdson [1], C. D. Meinhart [1], I. Mezic [1],
[1] University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Published in 2015

Measurement of three dimensional, three component velocity fields is central to the development of effective micromixers for bioassays and lab-on-chip mixing applications. We present a hybrid experimental-numerical method for the generation of 3D flow information from 2D particle image velocimetry (PIV) experimental data and finite element simulations. An optimization algorithm is applied to a theory-based simulation of an alternating current electrothermal (ACET) micromixer in conjunction with 2D PIV data to generate an improved estimation of the 3D steady state flow conditions. The optimization algorithm reduced the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) between the experimental and simulated velocity fields in the target region by more than an order of magnitude.