Abstract

This paper aims to discuss mixed electroosmotic/pressure driven flow of power-law fluids in a T-shaped microchannel subject to externally applied electric filed. The Possion-Boltzmann equation and Laplace equation are numerically solved and substituted into the modified Navier-Stokes equations. Considering the Possion-Boltzmann equation in the form without Debye-Hückel approximation, high order compact finite difference schemes are used for better simulation of velocity field and pressure field as a function of flow behavior index, zeta potential and dimensionless electrokinetic width. By setting the electric force at the inlet, detailed numerical results indicate that the shear thinning fluids are more sensitive to effects of zeta potential and dimensionless electrokinetic width compared with Newtonian and shear thickening fluids. If we set the electric force at the inlet and along the horizontal walls, the dimensionless electrokinetic width effects on the flow increase as the flow behavior index decreases, and the zeta potential effects result in the buildup of reverse flow in vertical channel, independent of the value of the flow behavior index.

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