S0530103 Numerical Study of the Micromixer Using the Taylor-Dean Flow : Effect of Aspect Ratio on the Mixing

Abstract

Chaotic mixing in a curved-rectangular channel flow is studied experimentally and numerically. Two walls of the channel (inner and top walls) rotate around the center of curvature and a pressure gradient is imposed in the direction toward the exit of the channel. This flow is a kind of Taylor-Dean flow. There are two parameters dominating the flow, the Dean number De (∝ the pressure gradient) and the Taylor number Tr (∝ the angular velocity of the wall rotation). In the present paper, we analyze the physical mechanism of chaotic mixing in the Taylor-Dean flow by comparing experimental and numerical results. It is found that good mixing performance is obtained in the case of De ≤ 0.1 Tr. This tendency appears more strongly if aspect ratio is large.