Effect of Channel Aspect Ratio on the Flow Performance of a Spiral-Channel Viscous Micropump

Abstract

The paper investigates the effect of channel aspect ratio on the flow performance of a newly introduced spiral-channel viscous micropump. An approximate 2D analytical solution for the flow field, which ignores channel curvature but accounts for a finite wall height, is first developed at the lubrication limit. A number of 3D models for spiral pumps with different aspect ratios are then built and analyzed using the finite volume method. Numerical and analytical results are in good agreement and tend to support one another. The results are compared with an approximate 2D analytical solution developed for infinite aspect ratio, which neglects the effect of side walls, and assumes uniform velocity distribution across the channel width. The error in this approximation was found to exceed 5% for aspect ratios less than 10. Pressure and drag shape factors were introduced in the present work to express the effect of the pressure difference and boundary velocity on the flow rate at various aspect ratios for both moving and stationary walls. Also, it has been found numerically that the flow rate varies linearly with both the pressure difference and boundary velocity, which supports the validity of the linear lubrication model employed.