Hydrodynamic Characteristics of Crossflow over MEMS-Based Pillars

Abstract

A parametric study was performed to reveal the hydrodynamic processes controlling crossflow over MEMS-based micro pin fin devices. Pressure drop experiments were conducted and used to obtain friction factors on a wide range of micro pin fin devices for various flow conditions and geometrical configurations, including pin fin height-to-diameter aspect ratios, spacings, and shapes. The acquired data suggests that the device geometry is the key parameter dictating friction factor trends and magnitude along with the Reynolds number. Additionally, friction factor data has shown that correlations based on experimental results performed on conventional scale tube bundles do not accurately predict the trends under working conditions pertaining to microfluidic systems.