The Finite Element Method for Microchannel Flow and Heat Transfer Calculations

In this paper, the finite element method for modelling of microchannel flow and heat transfer is discussed. The situations that need unstructured mesh technology are highlighted in addition to the flexible nature of the finite element method for problems with the need for adaptive refinement. Many of these aspects are demonstrated by solving flow and heat transfer through microchannels. Both mechanically driven and electrokinetically driven single phase flows in microchannels are considered. A brief discussion is provided on enhancement methods in which the finite element modelling can help. Only a selection of results are presented in this paper. More results will be presented during the conference.