Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 8, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Physics, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

"Fluidics" is the title applied to a relatively new technology which is concerned with the control of fluid power and the processing of information through the use of the fluid mechanical properties of the fluid medium itself. The absence of moving parts and the relatively low sensitivity to enviromental conditions suggest the probability that fluidic systems will prove to be faster and more reliable than the mechanically controlled (valves, diaphragms, springs, etc.) fluid systems which they are designed to replace.

Micromixer is one of the most significant components of microfluidic systems, which manifest essential applications in the field of chemistry and biochemistry. Achieving complete mixing performance at the shortest micro channel length is essential for a successful micromixer design. We have developed five novel micromixers which have advantages of high efficiency, simple fabrication, easy integration and ease for mass production. The design principle is based on the concept of splitting-recombination and chaotic advection. Numerical models of these micromixers are developed to characterize the mixing performance. Experiments are also carried out to fabricate the micromixers and evaluate the mixing performance. Numerical simulation for different parameters such as fluids properties, inlet velocities and microchannel cross sectional sizes are also conducted to investigate their effects on the mixing performance. The results show that critical inlet velocities can be predicted for normal fluid flow in the micromixers. When the inlet velocity is smaller than the critical value, the fluids mixing is dominated by mechanism of splitting-recombination, otherwise, it is dominated by chaotic advection. If the micromixer can tolerate higher inlet velocity, the complete mixing length can be further reduced. Our simulation results will provide valuable information for engineers to design a micromixer by choosing appropriate geometry to boost mixing performance and broaden implicational range to fit their specific needs. Accurate and complicated fluidic control, such as flow mixing or reaction, solution preparation, large scale combination of different reagents is also important for bio-application of microfluidics. A proposal microfluidic system is capable of creating 1024 kinds of combination mixtures. The system is composed of a high density integrated microfluidic chip and control system. The high density microfluidic chip, which is simply fabricated through soft lithography technique, contains a pair of 32 flow channels that can be specifically addressed by each 10 actuation channels based on principle of multiplexor in electronic circuits. The corresponding hardware and software compose the control system, which can be easy fabricated and modified, especially for prototype machine developing. Moreover, the control system has general application. Experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility of this microfluidic system for multi-optional solution combination. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.

In order for microfluidics devices to be marketable, they must be inexpensive and easy to use. Two projects were pursued in this study for this purpose. The first was the design of a chip alignment system for visual feedback, in which a two-layer microfluidic chip was placed under a camera and an image processing and linear algebra program aligned a computer model to it. The system then translated the new locations of air valves and could detect valve activation in a chip filled with food coloring. The second was the design of a cheap, portable system to detect phosphorus in water. This system could not be completed due to time constraints, but the methods were detailed, and design ideas were laid out for future work. / by Ian Gerstel. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1979. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 117-118. / by David Edward Dunfee. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, August 2007.

Thesis (M. Eng.(Mechanical))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

While 3D printing technologies first appeared in the 1980s, prohibitive costs, limited materials, and the relatively small number of commercially available printers confined applications mainly to prototyping for manufacturing purposes. As technologies, printer cost, materials, and accessibility continue to improve, 3D printing has found widespread implementation in research and development in many disciplines due to ease-of-use and relatively fast design-to-object workflow. Several 3D printing techniques have been used to prepare devices such as milli- and microfluidic flow cells for analyses of cells and biomolecules as well as interfaces that enable bioanalytical measurements using cellphones. This review focuses on preparation and applications of 3D-printed bioanalytical devices.

This thesis presents the method of state diagram synthesis and the development of a computer program for designing fluidic sequential feedback • control circuits of the fundamental mode. A paper on state diagram synthesis was authored by Chen and Lee, presented in Detroit and published as ASME paper 73-WA/Flcs-2 in 1973. Hypothetical systems are illustrated by using series of events characterized by the piston positions of some double-acting pneumatic cylinders. In these systems , an action can only begin when the previous action has been completed. Every extension or retraction of a piston is memorized and manifested by a flip-flop element in the feedback circuit. If different combina- tions of control signals result from different combinations of feedback signals, the logic design is straightforward. Otherwise secondary variables are needed to differentiate between repeated appearances of some ambiguous input combinations. A secondary variable is obtained as the output of a fluidic flip-flop with set and reset inputs. When a sufficient number of secondary variables are obtained, they are combined with the feedback signals. Considerations of these variables and their associated logic complementary "don't-care" conditions leads to a set of simplified control equations. The complete process of the circuit design, using state diagram synthesis, has been programmed for a digital computer. After the control equations are obtained , one can take the signal transmission characteristics into account in order to build a hazard-free circuit.

This study was directed toward the development of a bistable wall attachment Flip-Flop device which was capable of directionally controlling particle flow. The particles were transported by a fluid stream which under the influence of wall attachment. The dominant criteria in the development of the device was the achievement of the highest recovery of particles at the active output, without destroying the wall attachment of the fluid stream The experiment was conducted in several distinct stages; each of which was concerned with at least one aspect of wa1l attachment or particle flow. Results derived from one test were used to develop the criteria for the next experimental arrangement. Two experimental models were constructed: one of plywood with only one attachment wall, and one of plexiglas which had two attachment walls and was bistable. The plywood model was used in testing wall attachment and particle recovery as a function of the attachment wall angle. From these tests it was concluded that the optimum wall angle was 18 degrees from the center line of the device. Observations of particle action in the plywood model led to the incorporation of additional features in the plexiglas model. They were: an extended nozzle, the elimination of the separation bubble, and the development of smooth transitions at the corners. The plexiglas model was used to investigate optimum splitter location, the effect of jet velocity on recovery efficiency, the effect of vents on the performance of the device, and the performance of the device using a water jet. In the last stages of testing, moving parts and additional output features were used in conjunction with the bistable device to improve the collection efficiency. Some observations resulting from the data gathered in the various tests include: 1. The higher the jet velocity, the greater the wall attachment. 2. The higher the density and viscosity of the fluid stream the greater the recovery of particles at the active output. 3. Particles with large inertial forces were controlled less by the attached jet stream. The addition 0f vents in the device may produce greater particle recovery. 5. The use of moving parts and variations in the output leg design can produce 100 percent particle recovery. This study indicated that it was possible to control the directional flow of particles with the bistable wall attachment device which was developed. However, the pure fluid bistable device could not achieve 100 percent recovery of particles. The addition of moving parts or variations in the output leg design can produce 100 percent recovery of the particles. The use of a bistable device could provide simplicity, reliability and adaptability in transporting materials for industrial processes.