David Erickson, Department of Mechanical and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University
Abstract
This review article presents an overview of
some of the tools, techniques and applications of
numerical simulation for integrated microfluidic devices.
Provided is a broad overview of the different areas to
which numerical techniques have been applied in the
development of these devices from detailed studies of
fundamental microfluidic problems (e.g., species mixing
and sample dispersion) to unique approaches that take a
more global overview of the entire system. While the
majority of the work to date has been in these areas, also
reviewed is some recent progress into other equally
important areas of microscale transport such as thermal
analysis and chemical reactivity and specificity. An
overview of the advantages and disadvantages of common
numerical techniques is also presented along with a
brief discussion of some of the existing numerical tools,
focusing on those best suited for microscale transport
analysis. As microfluidic devices become increasingly
complex, optimal fluidic and transport designs become
more and more difficult to do experimentally. Thus, it is
believed that future demand in the field will be for highly
integrated simulation tools that allow users without a
significant computational fluids background to
‘‘numerical prototype’’ highly integrated devices.