Microfluidics Applications
A thermal bubble micro-pump
MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems), is a rapidly growing technology for the fabrication of miniature devices using processes similar to those used in the integrated circuit industry.
MEMS technology provides a way to integrate mechanical, fluidic, optical, and electronic functionality on very small devices, ranging from 0.1 microns to one millimeter. MEMS devices have two important advantages over conventional counterparts. First, they can be fabricated in large numbers, so that cost of production can be reduced substantially. Second, they can be directly incorporated into integrated circuits, so that far more complicated systems can be made than with other technologies.
As with other production techniques, however, the MEMS design process can be very costly, as engineers and scientists design, fabricate, test and then redesign a device in order to optimize its performance. Numerical simulation can provide quantitative analysis and significant insight across such disciplines as electronics, mechanics, chemistry, thermal science and fluid science. Using FLOW-3D as a simulation tool can help to substantially reduce the cost of design and production.
Read more in our Microfluidics Tech Papers
CFD-101 – Lagrangian Particles
Can you imagine a computational fluid dynamics program that simulates the behavior of different materials separated by well-defined interfaces that are subject to arbitrarily large deformations? Can you also imagine this program capturing shock waves, tracking rarefactions, slip surfaces and other non-linear hydrodynamic phenomena?
Developing such a program would be a daunting task. For this reason it may be a surprise to learn that such a program was operating in 1955, long before computer graphics or even mechanical pen plotters were available. Read more >