Microscale Flow Through Channels With a Right-Angled Bend: Effect of Fillet Radius

Abstract

Microscale gas flow through channels with a right-angled bend has been numerically analyzed to study the effect of the fillet radius on flow characteristics. The flow is assumed to be incompressible, laminar, and hydrodynamically developing. The fillet radius has been varied from zero, representing a sharp corner, to 0.6 times the height of the channel. The Knudsen number has been varied from zero, representing no-slip at the boundary, to 0.1, which is the limiting case for the slip-flow regime. A low Reynolds number of value 1 has been considered in the present study, which makes the flow to be within the incompressible slip-flow regime. The flow characteristics in terms of velocity profiles, velocity vectors, and the pressure ratio between the inlet and outlet of the channel have been presented for several cases. Results show that for the case of the fillet radius equal to zero, the flow separation occurs after the bend and due to this, the exit velocity profile changes significantly. The highest pressure ratio between the inlet and the outlet is required to maintain a specific mass flow rate for this case. The cases with a nonzero fillet radius exhibit exit velocity profiles identical to that of a straight channel. The pressure ratio decreases when the fillet radius and the Knudsen number are increased.