Investigating Elastic Turbulence for Enhanced Thermal Management in Curvilinear Microchannels

Background

Microchannels, with their micrometer-scale dimensions, are commonly used in applications like electronics cooling and biosensors. Due to their small size, fluid flow in these structures typically remains laminar, which limits heat transfer efficiency and reduces fluid mixing—key factors for applications requiring effective thermal management. Recent studies have demonstrated the generation of elastic turbulence in polymeric solutions at low flow speeds within microscale devices [1-4]. This phenomenon introduces chaotic flow patterns without the need for high Reynolds numbers, offering the potential to enhance heat transfer and mixing in microfluidic systems. Despite these advances, the mechanism of heat transfer enhancement due to elastic turbulence in microscale devices, particularly its relevance to applications like electronics cooling and life sciences, remains poorly understood. A deeper investigation into these mechanisms could lead to improved cooling performance in electronic components and more efficient chemical reactions in miniaturized fluidic chips used for biosensing and diagnostic applications.

Aim of the Thesis

This master thesis will focus on developing and testing new numerical models to study the effect of elastic turbulence on heat transfer and fluid mixing in microchannels with curvilinear geometries. The project will use OpenFOAM to simulate the behavior of polymeric solutions in microscale flows, aiming to understand how elastic turbulence can improve temperature regulation and mixing efficiency. Simulations will be compared against existing experimental data obtained in several curvilinear geometries, designed to probe elastic turbulence in microscale fluid flows. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore elastic turbulence as a potential solution for improving thermal management in electronics cooling and accelerating chemical reactions in biosensors.  

Figure 1: (a) visualization on of velocity fluctuations for two different Weissenberg numbers at Reynolds number = 1e-3. (b)  Normalized velocity fluctuations magnitude versus Weissenberg number.  

Contact and more information

For more information, please contact Himani Garg, Assistant Professor at the Department of Energy Sciences: himani.garg@energy.lth.se.

References

1. Garg, Himani, and Christer Fureby. "Comparison of viscoelastic flows in two-and three-dimensional serpentine channels." Physical Review E 109.5 (2024): 055108.
2. Garg, Himani, and Lei Wang. "Enhanced heat transfer in a two-dimensional serpentine micro-channel using elastic polymers." International Journal of Thermofluids (2024): 100724.
3. Li, Dong-Yang, et al. "E icient heat transfer enhancement by elastic turbulence with polymer solution in a curved microchannel." Microfluidics and Nanofluidics 21 (2017): 1-13.
4. Traore, Boubou, Cathy Castelain, and Teodor Burghelea. "Efficient heat transfer in a regime of elastic turbulence." Journal of NonNewtonian Fluid Mechanics 223 (2015): 62-76.