Passive control of viscous flow via elastic snap-through
We demonstrate the passive control of viscous flow in a channel by using an elastic arch embedded in the flow. Depending on the fluid flux, the arch may ‘snap’ between two states — constricting and unconstricting — that differ in hydraulic conductivity by up to an order of magnitude. We use a combin...
| Egile Nagusiak: | , , |
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| Formatua: | Journal article |
| Argitaratua: |
American Physical Society
2017
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| Gaia: | We demonstrate the passive control of viscous flow in a channel by using an elastic arch embedded in the flow. Depending on the fluid flux, the arch may ‘snap’ between two states — constricting and unconstricting — that differ in hydraulic conductivity by up to an order of magnitude. We use a combination of experiments at a macroscopic scale and theory to study the constricting and unconstricting states, and determine the critical flux required to transition between them. We show that such a device may be precisely tuned for use in a range of applications, and in particular has potential as a passive microfluidic fuse to prevent excessive fluxes in rigid-walled channels. |
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