Microfluidic cells as a model 2D granular material
by Paolo Fantinel
Date of Examination:2017-01-25
Date of issue:2017-03-20
Advisor:Dr. Lucas Goehring
Referee:Dr. Lucas Goehring
Referee:Prof. Dr. Andreas Tilgner
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Abstract
English
I have made quasi-2D granular analogs using microfabrication techniques common in microfluidics such as photo- and Soft Lithography. I have performed two kinds of experiments common in multiphase flow problems: drying and immiscible fluid-fluid displacement in granular materials. The granular analogs consisted in arrays of pillars (grains) of uniformly distributed, heterogeneous size. Depending on the experiments, pillars were placed on either a square (for drying experiments) or a triangular ( for immiscible displacement experiments) grid. Experimental results were compared to pore-network models developed in a partner group
Keywords: Microfabrication; Multiphase flow; Granular materials; drying; immiscible fluid displacement; flow; transport in granular materials; geophysics; physics