Effects of Grain Morphology on Flow Behavior of Semi-Solid Slurries

The flow behavior of semi-solid slurry determines the quality of the castings produced by the semi-solid forming process. Many studies have done to investigate the flow behavior of slurry under different conditions, and results show that the rheological behavior of slurry with dendritic structure is inappropriate for semi-solid forming. In this study, slurries with varying morphologies of grain for the same alloy with the same fraction solid have tested using a partial filling method. The SEED process was employed, and the pouring temperature adjusted to prepare semi-solid slurries with different grain morphologies. The flow pattern, entrapped air during the filling process, and also microstructure of the samples were examined to characterize the macro and micro flow behavior. The results show that a turbulent macro-flow, leading to entrapped air, and severe segregation appeared in the sample using slurry of Tpour ≥ 660 °C . For the slurry of Tpour < 660 °C, none of the three phenomena found in the sample. This investigation further showed that the detriment of dendrite on the semi-solid forming process, and implied that large size dendrite in semi-solid slurry must avoided.

How Does a Cell Change Flow Direction Due to a Micro Groove?

The change in direction of a cell flowing over an oblique micro groove has been analyzed in vitro. The micro flow-channel (0.05 mm height x 1 mm width x 25 mm length) with oblique micro grooves (4.5 μm depth) was manufactured on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) disk by the micromachining technique. The angle between the main flow direction and the longitudinal axis of the groove is 45 degrees. The effect of variation of the groove width (0.03 mm, 0.04 mm, and 0.05 mm) was studied. Myoblasts (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) were used in the test. The main flow velocity (0.02 mm/s < vx < 0.23 mm/s) of the medium was controlled by the pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet. The shape of each flowing cell was tracked on a movie recorded by the camera attached to the eyepiece of the microscope. The experimental results show that the change of the direction of each cell by each groove depends on the shape of the cell, which depends on both the shape of the cell and the width of the groove.

Signal Enhancement of Pressure-Sensitive Film Based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance

Pressure-sensitive films have been used for measurement in micro flow, but thin films have very limited intensity, resulting in poor signal-noise ratio (SNR). This paper presents a pressure-sensitive film whose emission signal is enhanced by silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Electronic beam evaporator and annealing furnace are used to fabricate silver nanotexture surface. PtTFPP and polystyrene are dissolved in toluene and then spin-coated on the silver nanotexture surface to prepare the pressure-sensitive films. Signal enhancement of film with AgNPs due to LSPR is analyzed and enhancement effect of samples with different particle sizes and spacer thickness are compared. Pressure and temperature calibrations are performed to assess the sensing performance of pressure-sensitive films. Pressure-sensitive films with AgNPs demonstrate signal enhancement due to LSPR and show promise for measurement in micro flow.

Experimental Study on the Effect of Locally Convergent Configurations on the Flow Pattern in PMMA Microchips

The geometries of micro-channel play a key role in forming of digital droplets, and can be real-time or effective controlling methodologies. Local convergence regions are designed in the rectangular cross-section channels on PMMA microchips, in which two-phase coaxial jets are introduced by inserting a syringe needle. The two-phase flow (lubricating oil (continuous phase, flow rate Q c)/deionized water (dispersed phase, flow rate Q d)) is considered. Two geometric control variables, the relative position (needle displacement x) and tapering characteristics (convergence angle α), are naturally adopted to discribe such geometry configurations. The micro-flow under the change of these two parameters is mainly studied in this paper. Four kinds of characteristic flow patterns, namely, sausages, slug, dripping and jetting, are found in the experiment, and their occurring parameters and developing dynamic characteristics are discussed. The experiment shows that the increase of inner needle displacement x can produce higher frequency and finer droplets, which is in consistent with our previous results obtained in round tube experiments and simulations. While increasing the convergence angle α, contrarily, takes opposite effects.