Deviations Due to Non-Newtonian Influences Within a Miniature Viscous Disk Pump

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A miniature viscous disk pump (VDP) is utilized to characterize and quantify non-Newtonian fluid deviations due to non-Newtonian influences relative to Newtonian flow behavior. Such deviations from Newtonian behavior are induced by adding different concentrations of sucrose to purified water, with increasing non-Newtonian characteristics as sucrose concentration increases from 0% (pure water) to 10% by mass. The VDP consists of a 10.16 mm diameter disk that rotates above a C-shaped channel with inner and outer radii of 1.19 mm, and 2.38 mm, respectively, and a channel depth of 200 μm. Fluid inlet and outlet ports are located at the ends of the C-shaped channel. Within the present study, experimental data are given for rotational speeds of 1200–2500 rpm, fluid viscosities of 0.001–0.00134 Pa s, pressure rises of 0–220 Pa, and flow rates up to approximately 0.00000005 m3/s. The theory of Flumerfelt is modified and adapted for application to the present VDP environment. Included is a new development of expressions for dimensionless volumetric flow rate, and normalized local circumferential velocity for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flows. To quantify deviations due to the magnitude non-Newtonian flow influences, a new pressure rise parameter is employed, which represents the dimensional pressure rise change at a particular flow rate and sucrose concentration, as the flow changes from Newtonian to non-Newtonian behavior. For 5% and 10% sucrose solutions at rotational speeds of 1200–2500 rpm, this parameter increases as the disk dimensional rotational speed increases and as the volumetric flow rate decreases. Associated magnitudes of the pressure difference parameter show that the fluid with the larger sucrose concentration (by mass) produces significantly larger differences between Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flow, for each value of dimensional volumetric flow rate. For each disc rotational speed, compared to Newtonian data, dimensional pressure rise variations with dimensional volumetric flow rate, which are associated with the non-Newtonian data, are generally lower when compared at a particular volumetric flow rate. Agreement with analytic results, for any given flow rate, rotational speed, and flow passage height, validates the shear stress model employed to represent non-Newtonian behavior, as well as the analytic equations and tools (based upon the Navier–Stokes equations) which are employed to predict measured behavior over the investigated range of experimental conditions.