Flow Through Rough Microchannels: A Lubrication Perspective

This paper provides concise specifications where idealized Poiseuille flow is applicable in representing one-dimensional flow through wide, thin, rough microchannels subjected to prescribed pressures at the channel ends. Starting with the general (compressible) form of the Navier-Stokes equations, new expressions which discuss the effect of body forces on flow through thin channels are first presented, leading to upper and lower bounds on channel reference velocity where idealized Poiseuille flow dominates. These results are combined with previously published studies related to the predicability of flow through stochastically rough surfaces. An arbitrarily chosen microchannel model based loosely on a previously published experimental test setup is used as a sample application.