BioMEMS & Microfluidics

Solutions to sheet 6, SS 23

M.Sc. Fulvia Del Duca, M.Sc. Sebastian Freko

Fachgebiet Neuroelektronik
Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik

BioMEMS & Microfluidics SS 23

 c( x ) c( x )
t<0 1
2 c∞

t=0 c∞
h
x
i
c( x, t) = 2 1 − erf 4Dt

x=0 x x=0 x

Figure 1: Schematic of the scenario in exercise 3. The concentration of a scalar c( x ) is zero for all times t < 0. At
t = 0, c( x = 0) is suddenly changed to 12 c∞ . The resulting function for c( x, t) is a complementary error function c( x, t) =
1 √x ). The plots show c ( x, t ) for t = 0, 10−2 , 10−1.5 , 10−1 , 10−0.5 , 1, 100.5 , and 101 s (red to white, respectively).
2 c∞ erfc(2 Dt

Exercise 1

Imagine a non-moving fluid, where c = 0 for all times t < 0. Suddenly, at t = 0 the boundary condition
c( x = 0, t ≥ 0) = 21 c∞ is applied (compare Fig. 1).

a) Construct an equivalent scenario making use of the superposition principle to solve for c( x, t). In doing
so, you can use the spread of a point-like concentration distribution in an infinite space

c0 −( x − x0 )2
c( x, t) = √ exp .
4πDt 4Dt

From the symmetry of the system, we can argue that an analogous scenario would be an infinite space
with c( x ≤ 0, t ≤ 0) = c∞ and c( x > 0, t ≤ 0) = 0. In this case, we can sum up an infinite number of
point sources to obtain
ˆ 0
c∞ −( x − ζ )2
c( x, t) = √ exp dζ.
−∞ 4πDt 4Dt

Next, we substitute z = √x −ζ
4Dt
ˆ x
c
√∞ exp −z2 dz
4Dt
c( x, t) = −
∞ π
and invert the integration boundaries to obtain
ˆ ∞
c
c( x, t) = √∞ exp −z2 dz.
x π
4Dt

BioMEMS & Microfluidics 1 SS 23

 ´x
Using the error function, erf x = √2 exp −z2 dz, we can rewrite this to
π 0

ˆ ∞
c
c( x, t) = √∞ exp −z2 dz
x π
4Dt
" ˆ ∞ ˆ x #
c∞ 2 2 2 4Dt
2
= √ exp −z dz − √ exp −z dz
2 π 0 π 0
 
c∞ x
= erf ∞ − erf
2 4Dt
 
c∞ x
= 1 − erf .
2 4Dt

b) Give a (rough) estimate after what time the molecules have reached x = 1, 10, 100, and 1000 µm
(Assume D = 10−10 m2 s−1 ).
As a rough estimate, we can use the mean square displacement,
D E
(∆x )2 = 2Dt,

to find t = 0.0005, 0.05, 5, and 500 s for x = 1, 10, 100, and 1000 µm, respectively. This means that while
1 µm is covered in about 0.5 ms, it will take diffusion 500 s (i.e. ≈8 min) to cover 1 mm.

c) Given
∂c
= D ∇2 c
∂t
is the governing equation in this case, describe the simplifications and boundary conditions under which
this solution applies to the Navier-Stokes equation.
If we assume no convection, negligible pressure differences, and a Newtonian fluid, the Navier-Stokes
equation simplifies to
∂u η
= ∇2 u.
∂t ρ

The above described solution is thus equivalent to u( x = 0, t ≥ 0) = 12 u∞ . I.e. if we imagine a quiescent

fluid in contact with a resting plate that starts moving with 12 u∞ at t = 0, the above described solution
η
describes the time-dependent velocity profile. Due to this analogy, the kinematic viscosity ν = ρ is also
referred to as momentum diffusivity.

Exercise 2

Consider a cross-shaped microfluidic as sketched in Fig. 2. Inlet 1 is supplied with an analyte solution (D =
2 µm2 s−1 ). At the junction, the flow from two side channels is added. One of these channels is kept at a
pressure of p3 = 1.5 × 105 Pa. The outlet is at atmospheric pressure p4 = 105 Pa. The remaining dimensions
of the system are w1 = w4 = 200 µm, w2 = w3 = 20 µm, L1 = L2 = L3 = 1 cm, L4 = 3 cm and h = 2 µm.
What pressures have to be applied to channels 1 and 2 to ensure ∆y = 40 µm and wline = 6 µm? What is the
value of the Peclet number in channel 4? Comment on the consequences for the passive transport of scalars
in the system.

Note: For graphical purposes, the channel lengths in Fig. 2 are scaled by a factor of 2, while the channel widths are scaled
by factor of 100. All channels are thus much longer than they are wide and the Hagen-Poiseuille law applies.

BioMEMS & Microfluidics 2 SS 23

 L2 Q2
Q1 L4

w1 = w4
∆y wline

L1 Q4
Q3 L3

w2 = w3

Figure 2: Schematic of the microfluidic system discussed in exercise 4. The inlet is supplied with fluid containing an analyte
of diffusivity D = 2 µm2 s−1 . At a cross-shaped intersection, two side channels enter the system. One of side channels is
kept at a pressure of p3 = 1.5 × 105 Pa, while the outlet is at atmospheric pressure p4 = patm ≈ 105 Pa. All channels have
a height of h = 2 µm and w1 = w4 = 200 µm and w2 = w3 = 20 µm. What pressures do channels 1 and 2 have to be
supplied with for ∆y to be 40 µm and wline to be 6 µm?

In order to solve this problem, we need to find the five pressures p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 , and pcenter and the four flows
Q1 , Q2 , Q3 , and Q4 . To this end, we can use the pressures given in the problem statement

p3 = 1.5 × 105 Pa
p4 = 105 Pa

as well as the conditions for Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 . For the stream of the analyte to be 6 µm wide and positioned
40 µm below the center of channel 4,
Q3 : Q1 : Q2 = 57 : 6 : 137

has to apply. In addition, we can use conservation of mass

Q1 + Q2 + Q3 = Q4

and the four Hagen-Poiseuille relations

p1 − pcenter
Q1 = ,
Rh,1
p2 − pcenter
Q2 = ,
Rh,2
p3 − pcenter
Q3 = , and
Rh,3
pcenter − p4
Q4 = .
Rh,4

The hydraulic resistances of the channels are given by

8ηLi
Rh,i = 2
.
Ai rh,i

BioMEMS & Microfluidics 3 SS 23

 In order to obtain the hydrodynamic radius, we use

2Ai
rh,i = ,
Pi

where Pi refers to the perimeter of the channel cross-section Ai . The matrix equation to be solved is thus
    
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 p1 1.5 × 105 Pa
    
0
 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  p2  
   105 Pa 

0 0 0 0 0 57 0 −6 0   p3   0
    

    
0
 0 0 0 0 137 −6 0 0    p4  
   0 

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 −1   pcenter  =  0 .
    
    
1
 0 0 0 1 − Rh,1 0 0 0    Q1  
   0 

0 1 0 0 1 0 − Rh,2 0 0   Q2   0
    

    
0
 0 1 0 1 0 0 − Rh,3 0    Q3  
   0 

0 0 0 −1 1 0 0 0 − Rh,4 Q4 0

Using the following MatLab® code, we obtain

p1 ≈ 1.24 × 105 Pa and

p2 ≈ 1.87 × 105 Pa .

1 % Define all input parameters .

eta = 1e -3; % viscosity in Pa s .
3 L1 = 1 e4 ; % Length of channel 1 in mum .
L2 = 1 e4 ; % Length of channel 2 in mum .
5 L3 = 1 e4 ; % Length of channel 3 in mum .
L4 = 3 e4 ; % Length of channel 4 in mum .
7 w1 = 200; % Width of channel 1 in mum .
w2 = 20; % Width of channel 2 in mum .
9 w3 = 20; % Width of channel 3 in mum .
w4 = 200; % Width of channel 4 in mum .
11 h = 2; % Channel height in mum .

13 % Evaluate hydraulic resistances .

Rh1 = 8 * eta * L1 * ( w1 + h ) ^2 / ( w1 * h ) ^3;
15 Rh2 = 8 * eta * L2 * ( w2 + h ) ^2 / ( w2 * h ) ^3;
Rh3 = 8 * eta * L3 * ( w3 + h ) ^2 / ( w3 * h ) ^3;
17 Rh4 = 8 * eta * L4 * ( w4 + h ) ^2 / ( w4 * h ) ^3;

19 % Assign right hand side .

b = [1.5 e5 ;
21 1 e5 ;
0;
23 0;
0;
25 0;
0;
27 0;
0];
29

% Assign coefficient matrix .

BioMEMS & Microfluidics 4 SS 23

31 A = [0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0;
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0;
33 0 0 0 0 0 57 0 -6 0;
0 0 0 0 0 137 -6 0 0;
35 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 -1;
1 0 0 0 -1 - Rh1 0 0 0;
37 0 1 0 0 -1 0 - Rh2 0 0;
0 0 1 0 -1 0 0 - Rh3 0;
39 0 0 0 -1 1 0 0 0 - Rh4 ];

41 % Solve matrix equation .

x = A \ b

Uℓ
In order to evaluate the Peclet number Pe = D in channel 4, we have to choose a suitable characteristic
Q4
velocity U and length ℓ. Concerning the velocity, the average velocity in channel 4 U = u(y, z) = A4 would
be an appropriate choice. As for the characteristic length, our choice is narrowed down to a dimension along
the y-axis since we are interested in diffusion along this axis. Between w4 and wline , we choose wline since this
will result in a lower Peclet number and thus a more conservative estimate. Overall, we obtain:

Uℓ Q w 1.54 × 105 µm3 s−1 × 6 µm

Pe = = 4 line = = 1155
D A4 D 200 µm × 2 µm × 2 µm2 s−1

Since the result is ≫ 1, we can safely ignore transversal diffusion, as the system is clearly dominated by
convective mass transport.

BioMEMS & Microfluidics 5 SS 23