Simulation of droplet generation in micro flow using MPS method

Abstract

Micro droplet generation is one of the basic functions in a micro total analysis system (micro TAS). Micro TAS has a lot of advantages and thus has wide range of applications in these days. In this study, a numerical calculation code for micro multi-phase flow is developed using Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method. Since surface tension is extremely strong and dominant in micro multi-phase flow, a time step is divided to sub-time steps for the surface tension term. This sub-time step algorithm enables us to calculate micro multi-phase flow efficiently with keeping numerical stability. Micro droplet generation in a micro channel is analyzed by the present code in two dimensions. The calculated droplet size, pitch and production rate show good agreement with those of the experiment.