Volume 9, Issue 5
Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Cross-Junction

Commun. Comput. Phys., 9 (2011), pp. 1235-1256.

Published online: 2011-05

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• Abstract

Using the lattice Boltzmann multiphase model, numerical simulations have been performed to understand the dynamics of droplet formation in a microfluidic cross-junction. The influence of capillary number, flow rate ratio, viscosity ratio, and viscosity of the continuous phase on droplet formation has been systematically studied over a wide range of capillary numbers. Two different regimes, namely the squeezing-like regime and the dripping regime, are clearly identified with the transition occurring at a critical capillary number Cacr. Generally, large flow rate ratio is expected to produce big droplets, while increasing capillary number will reduce droplet size. In the squeezing-like regime (Ca ≤ Cacr), droplet breakup process is dominated by the squeezing pressure and the viscous force; while in the dripping regime (Ca > Cacr), the viscous force is dominant and the droplet size becomes independent of the flow rate ratio as the capillary number increases. In addition, the droplet size weakly depends on the viscosity ratio in both regimes and decreases when the viscosity of the continuous phase increases. Finally, a scaling law is established to predict the droplet size.

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@Article{CiCP-9-1235, author = {}, title = {Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Cross-Junction}, journal = {Communications in Computational Physics}, year = {2011}, volume = {9}, number = {5}, pages = {1235--1256}, abstract = {

Using the lattice Boltzmann multiphase model, numerical simulations have been performed to understand the dynamics of droplet formation in a microfluidic cross-junction. The influence of capillary number, flow rate ratio, viscosity ratio, and viscosity of the continuous phase on droplet formation has been systematically studied over a wide range of capillary numbers. Two different regimes, namely the squeezing-like regime and the dripping regime, are clearly identified with the transition occurring at a critical capillary number Cacr. Generally, large flow rate ratio is expected to produce big droplets, while increasing capillary number will reduce droplet size. In the squeezing-like regime (Ca ≤ Cacr), droplet breakup process is dominated by the squeezing pressure and the viscous force; while in the dripping regime (Ca > Cacr), the viscous force is dominant and the droplet size becomes independent of the flow rate ratio as the capillary number increases. In addition, the droplet size weakly depends on the viscosity ratio in both regimes and decreases when the viscosity of the continuous phase increases. Finally, a scaling law is established to predict the droplet size.

}, issn = {1991-7120}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4208/cicp.231009.101110s}, url = {http://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/cicp/7549.html} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Cross-Junction JO - Communications in Computational Physics VL - 5 SP - 1235 EP - 1256 PY - 2011 DA - 2011/05 SN - 9 DO - http://dor.org/10.4208/cicp.231009.101110s UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/cicp/7549.html KW - AB -

Using the lattice Boltzmann multiphase model, numerical simulations have been performed to understand the dynamics of droplet formation in a microfluidic cross-junction. The influence of capillary number, flow rate ratio, viscosity ratio, and viscosity of the continuous phase on droplet formation has been systematically studied over a wide range of capillary numbers. Two different regimes, namely the squeezing-like regime and the dripping regime, are clearly identified with the transition occurring at a critical capillary number Cacr. Generally, large flow rate ratio is expected to produce big droplets, while increasing capillary number will reduce droplet size. In the squeezing-like regime (Ca ≤ Cacr), droplet breakup process is dominated by the squeezing pressure and the viscous force; while in the dripping regime (Ca > Cacr), the viscous force is dominant and the droplet size becomes independent of the flow rate ratio as the capillary number increases. In addition, the droplet size weakly depends on the viscosity ratio in both regimes and decreases when the viscosity of the continuous phase increases. Finally, a scaling law is established to predict the droplet size.

Haihu Liu & Yonghao Zhang. (2020). Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic Cross-Junction. Communications in Computational Physics. 9 (5). 1235-1256. doi:10.4208/cicp.231009.101110s
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