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Mechanical Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Iowa State University

2007

Complex Fluids

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

A Bubble-Powered Micro-Rotor: Conception, Manufacturing, Assembly And Characterization, Jonathan Kao, Xiaolin Wang, John Warren, Jie Xu, Daniel Attinger Dec 2007

A Bubble-Powered Micro-Rotor: Conception, Manufacturing, Assembly And Characterization, Jonathan Kao, Xiaolin Wang, John Warren, Jie Xu, Daniel Attinger

Daniel Attinger

A steady fluid flow, called microstreaming, can be generated in the vicinity of a micro-bubble excited by ultrasound. In this paper, we use this phenomenon to assemble and power a microfabricated rotor at rotation speeds as high as 625 rpm. The extractible power is estimated to be of the order of a few femtowatts. A first series of experiments with uncontrolled rotor shapes is presented, demonstrating the possibility of this novel actuation scheme. A second series of experiments with 65 µm rotors micromanufactured in SU-8 resin is then presented. Variables controlling the rotation speed and rotor stability are investigated, such …


Control And Ultrasonic Actuation Of A Gas–Liquid Interface In A Microfluidic Chip, Jie Xu, Daniel Attinger Mar 2007

Control And Ultrasonic Actuation Of A Gas–Liquid Interface In A Microfluidic Chip, Jie Xu, Daniel Attinger

Daniel Attinger

This paper describes the design and manufacturing of a microfluidic chip, allowing for the actuation of a gas–liquid interface and of the neighboring fluid. The first way to control the interface motion is to apply a pressure difference across it. In this case, the efficiency of three different micro-geometries at anchoring the interface is compared. Also, the critical pressures needed to move the interface are measured and compared to a theoretical result. The second way to control the interface motion is by ultrasonic excitation. When the excitation is weak, the interface exhibits traveling waves, which follow a dispersion equation. At …