A Numerical Study on the Thermo-electrohydrodynamic Performance of ECF Micro-pumps
摘要
This study presents a numerical method on the dynamic behaviors of the flow in an electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) micro-pump under the effect of temperature and electric double layer (EDL). The finite element method (FEM) was used to examine the thermo-electrohydrodynamic performance of the ECF micro-pump with the applied voltage ranging from 2 to 6 kV. The numerical results indicated that the temperature increases linearly with the applied voltage but decreases with increasing fluid Reynolds number (ReF). Additionally, characteristic curves of ECF micro-pumps are defined under the influence of temperature. The effect of EDL in the ECF micro-pump is also considered, and the increase in average velocity is approximately 14.1% with the presence of the EDL. A new correlation of temperature with ReF and applied voltage is first proposed. These results play a critical role in understanding the dynamic behavior of the ECF flow and controlling it in mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and especially in microelectronics cooling.