The blood in microvascular is seemed as a two-phase flow system composed of plasma and red blood cells (RBCs). Based on hydrodynamic continuity equation, Navier-Stokes equation, Fokker-Planck equation, generalized Reynolds equation and elasticity equation, a two-phase flow transport model of blood in elastic microvascular is proposed. The continuous medium assumption of RBCs is abandoned. The impact of the elastic deformation of the vessel wall, the interaction effect between RBCs, the Brownian motion effect of RBCs and the viscous resistance effect between RBCs and plasma on blood transport are considered. Model does not introduce any phenolmeno-logical parameter, compared with the previous phenolmeno-logical model, this model is more comprehensive in theory. The results show that, the plasma velocity distribution is cork-shaped, which is apparently different with the parabolic shape of the single-phase flow model. The reason of taper angle phenomenon and RBCs “Center focus” phenomenon are also analyzed. When the blood vessel radius is in the order of microns, blood apparent viscosity’s Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect and inverse Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect will occur, the maximum of wall shear stress will appear in the minimum of diameter, the variations of blood apparent viscosity with consider of RBCs volume fraction and shear rate calculated by the model are in good agreement with the experimental values.

In this paper, the three-dimensional (3D) structures of a micellar solution flow in the curvilinear microchannel have been investigated by means of confocal micro particle image velocimetry (PIV). The working fluid is aqueous solution of CTAC/NaSal (cetyltrimethylammonium / Sodium Salysilate). As the flow rate increases, the flow gradually gets into the irregular motion. It is found that the inside flow seems not completely chaotic, but in a manner of oscillation. To be specific, the flow nonlinearity grows as the flow rate increases, the inside flow shows different structures near the wall region and in the bulk due to the elongation of viscoelastic surfactant. Typically, two sub-streams were twisted together, and their flow directions change at the locations where the signs of geometric curvature change. The oscillation stripes represented the area of high extensional stress in the viscoelastic fluid, and were further identified by using polarized high-speed camera. Moreover, statistics shows that the viscoelastic flow field inside the curved microchannel shares the main features of elastic turbulence.

The use of the silicone known as Poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in microfluidic and other activities has increased enormously. By means of a laser short pulse, optical breakdown of the liquid contained in a microchannel (squared cross-section with 100 μm sides) can occur; as a consequence plasma is generated and a gaseous bubble suddenly expands. The expansion of such a bubble can be so violent that the channel walls deform considerably and in some cases the detachment of the top wall from the PDMS channel is verified. Measurements of channel width reveal a relative increase up to 45% for the tested conditions. Due to the elasticity of PDMS and surface energy values, surprisingly the top wall and channel reattach. Contrary to widely known cavitation where damage to the wall is manifested in form of pitting, we observe no permanent damage for the experimental conditions studied. We envisage the use of PDMS material in other types of applications with high relative volumetric change, such as microexplosions, ultrasonic cavitation and the like, in which there is a cyclic stress load of the PDMS material. We present a compact method to predict the reliability of PDMS for its use in cavitational events occurring inside of microfluidic channels (by force balance and energy conservation analysis).

Direct measurement techniques are employed to quantify the kinematics of DNA flows in micro-contraction devices. Flow through micro-contractions subjects the fluid to large spatial gradients in velocity, thereby eliciting viscoelastic effects. Additionally, in this microfluidic flow environment, the fully extended length of the macromolecule L will approach the characteristic length scale of the channel geometry h. This is a unique flow environment that is not yet well understood. Knowledge of the fundamental physics that govern this flow regime will have a profound impact on optimization of lab-on-a-chip systems incorporating macromolecular flows. This study investigates the flow of semi-dilute λ-DNA solutions in a 2:1 micro-contraction where L/h ∼ 0.32. Video microscopy and streak images of semi-dilute DNA flows reveal large vortex regions in the corners of the contraction, which are indicative of strong elastic behavior. Velocity fields constructed using Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) demonstrate the first use of this tool for obtaining velocity measurements of viscoelastic flows in microfluidic systems.