Modeling Diffusion in a Microfluidic System
Academic Research - 2024-2025
A diagram showing an example simulation output. Red and blue represent two separate fluids, and the green plane shows how the interface between the two is shaped by the acoustic streaming.
About this Project
Researchers Mehmet Akif ŞAHİN and Ghulam Destgeer from Technical University of Munich are
modeling the effects of acoustic streaming on low reynolds number flows of multiple adjacent
fluids. I worked with Rose-Hulman’s Dr. Dan Stoecklein to incorporate diffusion effects into
their model, to determine whether diffusion plays an important role in the output shape of the
channel.
We determined that diffusion qualitatively affected the output shape of the simulation, and
reduced one of the discrepancies observed between simulation and experimental results.