G. Dituba Ngoma (Canada), A. Sadiki (Germany), and F. Erchiqui (Canada)
Microfluidics, Heat transfer, Electroosmosis, Modeling and Simulation.
The transient effects on the laminar liquid flow and the thermal characteristics in a three-dimensional microchannel of trapezoidal cross-section were numerically investigated using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code COMSOL Multiphysics. The imposed heat flux on the microchannel wall, the Joule heating due to the applied electric potential at the microchannel inlet and outlet, and the electroosmosis were taken into account. Using the Helmholtz Smoluchowski electroosmotic velocity as boundary condition, the time-dependent liquid velocity distribution and the temperature field respectively were found solving the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy equations. The numerical results obtained demonstrate the impact of the electric potential and the pressure difference on the liquid flow and the thermal behaviors in a trapezoidal microchannel. Also, the effect of the imposed heat flux on the time-dependent temperature distribution was examined. A comparison of the results of the developed model considering three cross-sections with those of a microchannel consisting of two parallel plates was made.
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