Study Group report
This is the final report on the problem of design of microfluidic networks, brought to ESGI49 by Unilever Corporate Research.

Report authors
John Billingham (University of Nottingham)
Andrew Grief (University of Oxford)
David Leppinen (University of Cambridge)
Nick Ovenden (University College London)

Introduction
The Study Group was asked to construct models for microfluidic devices that can illuminate design principles and tools for future applications. Steady two-phase flow in a microfluidic device was examined using a network model. The generalisation of Kirchhoff's laws from electric-circuit theory to two-phase flow was demonstrated assuming no-slip between the phases. Missing equations at nodes were replaced by realistic physical assumptions based on how the phases divide at these junctions. The stability of large parallel microfluidic devices to manufacturing tolerances was also examined, along with extensions to the model for future work. The Study Group report includes a MATLAB implementation of the model.

Download 'Microfluidics.pdf' (779 Kb).