Abstract
Numerical simulations of gas-liquid flows in a thin microchannel are performed to gain insight into the dynamics in microbubble generation. In consideration of liquid inertia, the basic equations consist of the Laplace law and the two-dimensional Euler-Darcy equation under the assumption of Hele-Shaw's flow owing to a large width-to-thickness aspect ratio of the channel cross-section, and are numerically solved by means of a boundary element method. The simulated results of the interface motion in a T-shaped channel (composed of two inlets for gas and liquid and an outlet for liquid) well capture the experimentally observed behaviors that the interface pinches off at the channel junction and then a bubble forms, and imply the significance of the liquid inertia in the microbubble generation process.
