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Modeling Capillary Flow?

Posted Nov 9, 2015, 4:32 p.m. EST 2 Replies

Andrei Gliga
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Hello, I'm fairy new to COMSOL, and have been trying to model capillary flow for a school project through a (2D) microfluidic device. The best I've been able to do is manually calculate the average capillary pressure using an equation based on channel dimensions, and input this as an inlet pressure to my system, with a zero pressure outlet. This of course is not accurate to how capillary action works, as in reality the fluid is pulled forward at the front of the fluid-air interface due to the adhesion forces. Is there any way to get COMSOL to model the flow by recognizing the spacing between walls (and surface properties) as opposed to me manually telling it what the pressure is? I know a more accurate model would be to build my model in COMSOL and use different dimensions as parameters, and tell it what the pressure is using the equation, but once again that means 1) its modeling the pressure as a pressure differential between ends of the system as opposed to capillary action and 2) I'm importing my design from AutoCAD.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

P.S. I do have access to a computer with the microfluidics module
2 Replies Last Post Nov 9, 2015, 5:00 p.m. EST
Jeff Hiller COMSOL Employee

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Posted: 9 years ago Nov 9, 2015, 4:43 p.m. EST
This link may be of interest:
www.comsol.com/model/capillary-filling-level-set-and-phase-field-methods-1878
Best,
Jeff
This link may be of interest: http://www.comsol.com/model/capillary-filling-level-set-and-phase-field-methods-1878 Best, Jeff
Andrei Gliga
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Posted: 9 years ago Nov 9, 2015, 5:00 p.m. EST
Hi Jeff thank you! I have seen this model before but didn't fully understand if it was what I was looking for but will examine it more closely now. I saw the pressure equations were using variables such as "rho." I'm not sure what these represent exactly but I can try googling.

Thank you
Hi Jeff thank you! I have seen this model before but didn't fully understand if it was what I was looking for but will examine it more closely now. I saw the pressure equations were using variables such as "rho." I'm not sure what these represent exactly but I can try googling. Thank you

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