Numerical Study for Mixing Characteristics of an Oscillating Micro-stirrer

미소진동교반기의 혼합특성에 대한 수치적 연구

Effective mixing is an important problem in microfluidics for chemical and biomechanical applications. In this study, the influences of the Reynolds number and the oscillating frequency on mixing characteristics of micro-stirrer are studied in a microchannel with single stirrer. The influence of fluid inertial effects in an active mixer is first discussed. It is found that the stirring effects by stirrer oscillation are promptly attenuated at low Reynolds number, which makes greatly difficult the rapid mixing. As the inertial effects are increased, the chaotic advection is generated and then developed. The mixing phase is finally developed some mushroom shaped structure. And the mixing efficiency is also studied as a function of the oscillating frequency. We found that the mixing efficiency does not always increase with higher oscillating frequency of stirrer. Consequently, we found the functional relation between the optimal frequency of a stirrer and the Reynolds number.