Pressure field evaluation in microchannel junction flows through μPIV measurement

An experimental method for evaluating pressure fields in a microchannel flow was studied using μPIV measurement in conjunction with the pressure Poisson equation. The pressure error due to the influence of numbers of measurement planes, computational grids for solving pressure Poisson equation, and an experimental error in μPIV measurement was evaluated with respect to the exact solution of Navier–Stokes equation for straight microchannel flow. The mean velocity field in microchannel junction flows with bifurcation and confluence was measured by a μPIV system, which consists of a CCD camera and a microscope with an in-line illumination of white light from stroboscopes. The planar velocity fields at various cross-sections of the microchannel flow were measured by traversing the focal plane within a depth of focus of the microscope. The pressure contour in the microchannel flow was evaluated by solving the pressure Poisson equation with the experimental velocity data. The results indicate that the pressure field in the microchannel junction flow agrees closely with the numerical simulation of laminar channel flow, which suggests the validity of the present method.     

Interactive Evolutionary Computation-Based Hearing Aid Fitting

An interactive evolutionary computation (EC) fitting method is proposed that applies interactive EC to hearing aid fitting and the method is evaluated using a hearing aid simulator with human subjects. The advantages of the method are that it can optimize a hearing aid based on how a user hears and that it realizes whatever+whenever+wherever (W³) fitting. Conventional fitting methods are based on the user's partially measured auditory characteristics, the fitting engineer's experience, and the user's linguistic explanation of his or her hearing. These conventional methods, therefore, suffer from the fundamental problem that no one can experience another person's hearing. However, as interactive EC fitting uses EC to optimize a hearing aid based on the user's evaluation of his or her hearing, this problem is addressed. Moreover, whereas conventional fitting methods must use pure tones and bandpass noise for measuring hearing characteristics, our proposed method has no such restrictions. Evaluating the proposed method using speech sources, we demonstrate that it shows significantly better results than either the conventional method or the unprocessed case in terms of both speech intelligibility and speech quality. We also evaluate our method using musical sources, unusable for evaluation by conventional methods, and demonstrate that its sound quality is preferable to the unprocessed case     

Fabrication, Assembly, and Testing of Cu- and Al-Based Microchannel Heat Exchangers

Metal-based microchannel heat exchangers (MHEs) are of current interest due to the combination of high heat transfer performance and improved mechanical integrity. Efficient methods for fabrication and assembly of functional metal-based MHEs are essential to ensure the economic viability of such devices. In this paper, the results on fabrication, assembly, and heat transfer testing of Cu- and Al-based MHE prototypes are reported. Efficient fabrication of Cu- and Al-based high-aspect-ratio microscale structures (HARMSs) has been achieved through molding replication using surface-engineered metallic mold inserts. Replicated metallic HARMSs were assembled through eutectic bonding to form entirely Cu- and Al-based MHE prototypes, on which heat transfer tests were conducted to determine the average rate of heat transfer from electrically heated Cu blocks placed outside the MHEs to water flowing within the molding replicated microchannel arrays. Experimentally observed heat transfer rates are higher as compared to those from previous studies on microchannel devices with similar geometries. The potential influence of microchannel surface profile on heat transfer rates is discussed. The present results illustrate the potential of metal-based MHEs in wide-ranging applications.$hfill$[2007-0170]      

基于光线追迹的方形微通道X光器件模拟

为研究方形微通道X光器件的成像特性,基于光线追迹法建立了一种方形微通道X光器件的数学模型。利用数值模拟的方法对比了方形微通道X光器件和传统多毛细管X光器件的传输效率,研究了方形微通道X光器件的潜在光源位置分辨能力、光斑形貌等成像特性。证实了方形微通道X光器件在深空探测和空间X射线成像领域的潜在应用价值。     

Analytical formulation of electric field and dielectrophoretic force for moving dielectrophoresis using Fourier series

Electrokinetics manipulation and separation of living cells employing microfluidic devices require good knowledge of the strength and distribution of electric field in such devices. AC dielectrophoresis is performed by generating non-uniform electric field using microsize electrodes. Among the several applications of dielectrophoretic phenomenon, this present study considers the recently introduced phenomenon of moving dielectrophoresis. An analytical solution using Fourier series is presented for the electric field distribution and dielectrophoretic force generated inside a microchannel. The potential at the upper part of the microchannel has been found by solving the governing equation of the electric potential with specific boundary conditions. The solutions for the electric field and dielectrophoretic force show excellent agreement with the numerical results. Microdevices were fabricated and experiments were carried out with living cells confirming and validating the analytical solutions.     

Measurement of dissolved oxygen diffusion coefficient in a microchannel using UV-LED induced fluorescence method

The diffusion coefficient of dissolved oxygen (DO) was measured in a microchannel using the UV-LED induced fluorescence method. Mass transfer between oxic and anoxic de-ionized (DI) water was quantitatively visualized in a Y-shaped microchannel. Oxygen-sensitive ruthenium (tris (2,2′-bipyridine) ruthenium (II) chloride hexahydrate] and a 450-nm UV-LED were used for the optical measurement of a DO concentration field. In situ pixel-by-pixel calibration was carried out to obtain Stern–Volmer equations to measure the DO concentration field with a spatial resolution of 0.625 μm/pixel. The diffusion layers are successfully acquired for different Reynolds numbers (Re = 0.14, 1.4, and 14). The DO diffusion coefficient is calculated by both the constant-assumed and the concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient methods. The measured DO diffusion coefficient, 2.32 × 10^?9 m²/s, is very close to that of the theoretical prediction of the oxygen gas diffusion coefficient, 2.16 × 10^?9 m²/s.     

Particle handling in straight microfluidic channels via opposing electroosmotic and pressure-driven flows

The current study presents a method for producing recirculation zones in a straight microchannel using opposing pressure-driven and electrokinetically driven flows. The interaction of these two flow streams causes flow recirculation structures, which restricts the flow passage within the microchannel and causes a nozzle-like effect, thereby increasing the separation distance between particles in the fluid stream. Theoretical and experimental investigations are performed to investigate the effects of the applied electrical field intensity on the flow recirculation size, and the nozzle-like effect, respectively. In general, the results confirm that the proposed approach provides an effective means of achieving particle acceleration and separation distance within straight microchannels, and therefore provides a viable technique for improving particle manipulation and optical detection in conventional microfluidic devices. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Analysis of combined pressure-driven electroosmotic flow through square microchannels

In this paper three-dimensional single-phase liquid flow through microchannels with a square-shaped cross-section driven by simultaneous application of pressure gradient and electroosmotic pumping mechanism is studied. The governing system of equations consists of the electric potential field and flow field equations. The solution procedure involves three steps. First, the net charge distribution on the cross-section of the microchannel is computed by solving two-dimensional Poisson–Boltzmann equation using the finite element method. Then, using the computed fluid’s charge distribution, the magnitude of the resulting body force due to interaction of an external electric field with the charged fluid particles is calculated along the microchannel. In the third step, the flow equations are solved by considering three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations with an electrokinetic body force. The computations reveal that the flow pattern in the microchannel is significantly different from the parabolic velocity profile of the laminar pressure-driven flow. The effect of the liquid bulk ionic concentration and the external electric field strength on flow patterns through the square-shaped microchannels is also investigated.     

Mixing and flow regulating by induced-charge electrokinetic flow in a microchannel with a pair of conducting triangle hurdles

The induced-charge electrokinetic flow (ICEKF) in a rectangular micorchannel with a pair of conducting triangle hurdles embedded in the middle is investigated in this paper. A correction method is suggested to numerically estimate the induced zeta potential on the conducting surface. Two-dimensional pressure-linked Navier-–Stokes equation is used to model the flow field in the channel. The numerical results show flow circulations generated from the induced non-uniform zeta potential distribution along the conducting hurdle surfaces. It is demonstrated numerically that the local flow circulations provide effective means to enhance the flow mixing between different solutions; by adjusting the electric field applied through the microchannel with a non-symmetric triangle hurdle pair, an electrokinetic flow regulating effect can be obtained and this effect depends on the dimensions of the conducting converging–diverging section. The mixing and flow regulating using ICEKF described in this paper can be used in various microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applications.     

微流控芯片中电渗流的数值模拟与仿真研究

从电渗流形成的基本理论入手,推导了电场和流场双物理场耦合的控制方程.运用多物理场数值计算分析软件建立了长为1000μm,宽为100μm的二维流道,在微流道中间250~750μm的区域施加了直流电压,并在数值模拟中还原了微流道内壁和微流体的物理属性,计算得出了各段流体的速度场,进而得出了各段流体的流型.通过二维流道压力分布分析了微流道中各段产生不同流型的原因.对微流控芯片中的电动流动的功能原理分析及优化设计具有借鉴意义.     

Identification of stratigraphic formation interfaces using wavelet and Fourier transforms

The purpose of this study was to identify the formation interfaces from geophysical well log data using the wavelet transform, and a combination of the wavelet transform and the Fourier transform methods. In the wavelet transform method, the identification of formation interfaces is based on the wavelet coefficients from the wavelet transform of spontaneous potential (SP) log and gamma ray (GR) log data. In the combination of the wavelet transform and the Fourier transform methods, the wavelet transform, spectrum analysis, and logarithmic transform of well logs were applied to the SP and GR log data successively to obtain clear signals for identifying the stratigraphic formation interface. In this study, a set of ideal log data was first created and analyzed to test the validity of the developed procedures. In analyzing the SP and GR logs from a field, both the wavelet transform method and conventional well log analysis showed similar results. The results from a combination of the wavelet transform and the Fourier transform methods, however, were better than those from the wavelet transform method and the conventional well log analysis.     

Electrokinetic micromixing of charged and non-charged samples near nano–microchannel junction

A nano–microchannel flow mixer comprising a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel and a Nafion nanoporous membrane is fabricated. It is shown that when an electric field is applied across the device, an ion enrichment/ion depletion effect occurs near the nano–microchannel junction. The mixing performance of the proposed device is examined for three different samples, namely fluorescein (negatively charged), Rhodamine 6G (positively charged), and Rhodamine B (electroneutral). It is shown that a mixing effect is obtained only for the Rhodamine B solution. Thus, it is inferred that nano–microchannel devices such as that presented in this study and those presented in the literature are unsuitable for biomolecule detection applications since such molecules are generally charged.     

Three-dimensional flow velocity and wall shear stress distribution measurement on a micropillar-arrayed surface using astigmatism PTV to understand the influence of microstructures on the flow field

In this study, the influence of the microstructure in a microchannel on the three-dimensional (3D) flow field and shear stress distribution on the wall was investigated with 3D velocity measurement method. In a micro-total analysis system or a lab-on-a-chip application, the control of the flow is necessary. Thus, microstructures are often applied to the fluidic system for passive flow control. However, the flow field which interacts with microstructures becomes complicated three-dimensionally. The 3D measurement of such microfluidic flow would give insight on the interaction of the flow with the structures and be also useful for other applications. In this study, micropillar array was introduced in a microchannel and we investigated the influence of the micropillar on the 3D flow field by the astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry which enables to determine three-dimensional and three-component velocity by single-viewing. Furthermore, the wall shear stress distribution was also investigated. From measurement results, it was confirmed that the pillar changes the wall shear stress distribution and 3D velocity distribution. Compared to a flat channel (no-pillar array), the wall shear stress in our channel varied spatially in a range of approximately ??80 to +?20%. Moreover, we also conducted a numerical simulation to consolidate the measurement results.     

Adhesion-Based Cell Sorter With Antibody-Coated Amino-Functionalized-Parylene Surface

An adhesion-based cell-separation device is developed for the extraction of rare cells from a cell mixture. The cell-separation principle mimics leukocyte recruitment from blood vessels in our body, where leukocytes are decelerated by antigen-antibody interaction at the sites of inflammation or injury. Separation of cell mixture can be accomplished by simply introducing the sample plug through an antibody-immobilized microchannel without any pre- or postprocessing. A new class of amino-functionalized parylene (diX AM) is employed in order to provide amino group on the channel-wall surface. The amount of immobilized biomolecules on diX AM surface is characterized through quartz-crystal-microbalance measurements. The number density of immobilized biotin is as large as , which indicates an amount of amino group enough to immobilize biotin and other biomolecules in a closely packed state. It is shown by the measurement of cell velocity in the CD31-coated diX AM microchannel that the flowing velocity of human endothelial cells are reduced by up to 70% due to specific adhesion of CD31 antigens and antibodies. The results are further analyzed by using a 2-D membrane-peeling model, with which the cell velocity can be estimated under different conditions of antibody number density and bulk mean velocity. Based on the experimental results, a cell-separation device for treating a 1- cell-mixture plug is designed and microfabricated. A mixture of human endothelial cells and leukocytes is successfully separated into plugs of each cell type within a shorter period of time as compared to conventional cell-separation methods which require sample preprocessing.     

Recovering Connected Error Region Based on Adaptive Error Concealment Order Determination

Parts of compressed video streams may be lost or corrupted when being transmitted over bandwidth limited networks and wireless communication networks with error-prone channels. Error concealment (EC) techniques are often adopted at the decoder side to improve the quality of the reconstructed video. Under the conditions of a high rate of data packets that arrives at the decoder corrupted, it is likely that the incorrectly decoded macro-blocks (MBs) are concentrated in a connected region, where important spatial reference information is lost. The conventional EC methods usually carry out the block concealment following a lexicographic scan (from top to bottom and from left to right of the image), which would make the methods ineffective for the case that the corrupted blocks are grouped in a connected region. In this paper, a temporal error concealment method, adaptive error concealment order determination (AECOD), is proposed to recover connected corrupted regions. The processing order of an MB in a connected corrupted region is adaptively determined by analyzing the external boundary patterns of the MBs in its neighborhood. The performances, on several video sequences, of the proposed EC scheme have been compared with those obtained by using other error concealment methods reported in the literature. Experimental results show that the AECOD algorithm can improve the recovery performance with respect to the other considered EC methods.      

一种新基于混沌优化算法的机器人路径规划方法

提出了一种基于混沌优化算法的机器人路径规划方法,即混沌人工势场法，该方法能够在动态环境下实时、有效地产生避碰局部最优路径,避免了传统人工势场法容易陷入局部最优和在比较靠近的两个障碍物之间找不到通道的缺陷.仿真试验表明:提出的方法具有较强的路径规划能力，克服了传统人工势场法的缺点,具有较强的实用性.     

多层导电结构电涡流扫描检测缺陷自动识别和分类技术研究

多层导电结构涡流检测中,缺陷的自动识别和分类是急需解决的重要问题.提出了一种新的缺陷信号自动检测识别和分类方法,首先采用幅值中值预判和小波分析方法进行信号预处理,自动识别并提取包含缺陷的涡流检测信号片段;然后运用主分量分析法对含有缺陷的信号片段进行特征提取;接着构建最近均值、K近邻、BP网络和支持向量机四种分类器对缺陷信号进行分类;最后进行了实验研究,对多层导电结构三种形状缺陷的扫描检测信号进行识别和分类,验证了本文所提出方法的有效性,并比较了各分类器的性能,根据识别和分类错误率大小,可看出支持向量机分类器具有较好的鲁棒性和稳定性.     

Comparison of the performance of latent heat flux products over southern hemisphere forest ecosystems: estimating latent heat flux error structure using in situ measurements and the triple collocation method

ABSTRACT

In this study, we compared different remote-sensing (RS)-based land surface models (LSM) and reanalysis latent heat flux (LE) products over different forest ecosystems. We analysed the performance of three RS products, the MOD16A2, the Breathing Earth System Simulator (BESS) model, and a combined optical-microwave model (COM) in their ability to replicate eddy covariance (EC) flux observations of LE at eight southern hemisphere forest ecosystems and compared their results to simulated LE from the offline LSM (GLDAS/NOAH) and a reanalysis LE dataset (MERRA). To determine spatial uncertainties, we used the triple collocation (TC) method, which does not require a priori knowledge of the true LE value, at selected Australian EC locations and over an area without in situ measurement (the Dry Chaco Forest (DCF), Argentina). The spatial pattern of the TC results was commensurable with uncertainties calculated using EC observations, indicating that the TC method is a robust technique to estimate spatial uncertainties. As global products have been validated with EC measurement from Ozflux stations, we hypothesized and found, using the TC model, that LE products achieve a better performance over areas with EC from networks than over sites without ground-based measurements and may reflect over-calibration of models or a need for a more diverse representation of ecosystems at flux tower networks.     

A microdevice for the mixing of a highly viscous biosample with water/membrane protein solution using microchannel and centrifugation

A mechanism for controlling the mixing of highly viscous biosamples at the microliter scale is presented. Existing methods for mixing biosamples using microstirrers or shaking microwells are only effective for non-highly viscous materials. The proposed mechanism mixes monoolein, a highly viscous biosample, with water/membrane protein solution in a microdevice called microcapsule using a microchannel and centrifugation. To achieve effective mixing, the design of the microcapsule along with the microchannel is presented and so is the hydrodynamic model describing the flow of viscous materials in the microchannel. The mixing process is analyzed according to the Reynolds number of the biosamples using computer simulation, which is observed during the experiment using digital images for further analysis. Finally, the new approach is verified by X-ray diffraction experiments with water and the Rh membrane protein solution, which are used to evaluate the effectiveness of mixing. Experimental results not only validate the proposed method but also determine the flow oscillation time in the microchannel to achieve effective and efficient mixing.     

Improvement of microchannel geometry subject to electrokinesis and dielectrophoresis using numerical simulations

This paper addresses the effects of microchannel geometry with electrically insulating posts on a particle flow driven by electrokinesis and dielectrophoresis. An in-house numerical program is developed using a numerical model proposed in literature to predict particle flows in a microchannel with a circular post array. The numerical program is validated by comparing the results of the present study to those in the literature. Results obtained from a Monte-Carlo simulation confirm the three particle flow types driven by an external DC electric field: electrokinetic flow, streaming dielectrophoretic flow, and trapping dielectrophoretic flow. In addition, we study the effects of electrokinetic and dielectrophoretic forces on particle transports by introducing a ratio of lateral to longitudinal forces exerted on a particle. As a result, we propose an improved microchannel geometry to enhance particle transports across electrokinetic streamlines for a given power dissipation. The improved microchannel has a shorter longitudinal spacing between the circular posts than a reference microchannel. We also discuss the critical values of dimensionless variables that distinguish the three particle flow types for both improved and reference microchannels.