Fluid flow driven along microchannel by its upper stretching wall with electrokinetic effects

Abstract

We develop a mathematical model to describe the flow in a microchannel driven by the upper stretching wall of the channel in the presence of electrokinetic effects. In this model, we avoid imposing any unphysical boundary condition, for instance, the zero electrostatic potential in the middle of the channel. Using the similarity transformation, we employ the homotopy analysis method (HAM) to get the analytical solution of the model. In our approach, the unknown pressure constant and the integral constant related to the electric potential are solved spontaneously by using the proper boundary conditions on the channel walls, which makes our model consistent with the commonly accepted models in the field of fluid mechanics. It is expected that our model can offer a general and proper way to study the flow phenomena in microchannels.