Joint Science/Mech590 Seminar

Speaker: Prof. Piotr Garstecki, Institute of Physical Chemistry,
	 Polish Academy of Sciences

Title: Bubbles and Droplets in Microfluidics

Date: Tue 18 April, 2006
Time: 16:45
Place: Eng-B29

Abstract:

Microfluidic systems offer highly controlled methods of emulsification. In
contrast to the dynamics of break-up in unbounded fluids, where one typically
observes two distinct regimes of break-up: dripping and jetting; microfluidic
systems exhibit an additional,  rate-of-flow  controlled  mode  of  break-up
which  is  dominated  by  the normal and  not  tangential stresses  exerted
on  the  emerging  droplets.  I  will describe  this  new  mechanism  in
detail  for  two  most  popular  microfluidic  devices used for emulsification
flow-focusing and T-junction geometries. I will also briefly review how this
dynamics and controlled formation of bubbles and droplets can be used in
design of microfluidic systems exhibiting surprisingly stable, complex
nonlinear dynamics, and in applications, including micro-mixing, formation of
particles and microcapsules, and in fluidic optical systems.


Please visit http://home.ku.edu.tr/~sci-math for a schedule of
upcoming Science -Math seminars at Koc University.