Measurement of low Reynolds number flow emanating from a Turing pattern microchannel array using a modified Bernoulli equation technique

Abstract

An experimental investigation of the air flow emanating from a Turing pattern microchannel array into an open atmosphere at very low Reynolds (Re) numbers is presented. As designed, the microchannel structure has channel sizes ranging between 0.6 mm and 1.5 mm with a depth of 0.6 mm. The development of a modified Bernoulli equation analysis method to determine fluid flow speed is introduced. Specifically, a low cost, large (11.11 mm inner diameter) flexible tube probe was employed to measure the fluid total pressure field distribution at a fixed distance from the outlets of the microchannel array. Using subsequent numerical modeling of the outlet-to-tube fluid flow interactions, a flow speed dependent correction factor for the determined dynamic pressure field is proposed. The experimentally measured fluid flow distribution is consistent with the expected flow field pattern obtained by additional computational modeling of flow through and exiting the entire Turing pattern microchannel manifold structure. The pressure measurement and post-processing technique for determining flow velocity may be adapted to a wide range of low-speed (e.g., Re≤100) fluid flow measurement scenarios.