PIV measurement of flow in a micro-channel

Examination on depth-resolution

Abstract

Microfluidics is recent topics in various fields of engineering and science, such as micro-circulation in living body, flow through micro-channel for medical use, micro-flow mixing, micro-jet, flow in porous media, flow around electronic device, flow around micro-machine, chemical reaction, molecular design and so on. In micro-flow analysis, physical characteristics, which are particular to the micro-flow, must be considered. And also experimental method is different from it for general flow problems. Micro-PIV is useful to velocity field measurements of micro-flow phenomena, however, practical technique of it has not been established in detail. In this report, velocity distribution of flow through a micro-channel is measured by using micro-PIV system based on macro-zoom lens system, and depth-wise spatial resolution of the measurement is discussed.