Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Generation and Control of Electrohydrodynamic Flows in Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions
Published on: September 7, 2018
Effect of viscoelasticity on the flow pattern and the volumetric flow rate in electroosmotic flows through a
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea. hmpark@sogang.ac.kr
Abstract:
Many lab-on-a-chip based microsystems process biofluids such as blood and DNA solutions. These fluids are viscoelastic and show extraordinary flow behaviors, not existing in Newtonian fluids. Adopting appropriate constitutive equations these exotic flow behaviors can be modeled and predicted reasonably using various numerical methods. In the present paper, we investigate viscoelastic electroosmotic flows through a rectangular straight microchannel with and without pressure gradient. It is shown that the volumetric flow rates of viscoelastic fluids are significantly different from those of Newtonian fluids under the same external electric field and pressure gradient. Moreover, when pressure gradient is imposed on the microchannel there appear appreciable secondary flows in the viscoelastic fluids, which is never possible for Newtonian laminar flows through straight microchannels. The retarded or enhanced volumetric flow rates and secondary flows affect dispersion of solutes in the microchannel nontrivially.
More Related Videos
10:28Experimental Measurement of Settling Velocity of Spherical Particles in Unconfined and Confined Surfactant-based Shear Thinning Viscoelastic Fluids
Published on: January 3, 2014
08:32Assembly and Characterization of an External Driver for the Generation of Sub-Kilohertz Oscillatory Flow in Microchannels
Published on: January 28, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Viscosity
Viscosity
The SI unit of viscosity is...
Viscosity of Fluid
Steady, Laminar Flow in Circular Tubes
Newtonian Fluid: Problem Solving
A velocity gradient forms within the fluid when a Newtonian fluid is placed between two parallel plates, with...
Steady Flow of a Fluid Stream
During this process, the momentum of the fluid within the control volume remains constant over the time interval dt. By applying the...