A study of fluid flow in a MEMS designed for the determination of fluid and flow characteristics

This paper presents a study on the hydrodynamically developed flow in hexagonal ducts, built as a MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) for the determination of fluid and flow characteristics. The design and operation of this structure in the framework of the new measurement concept developed previously requires detailed knowledge about the physical phenomena implied, namely about the fluid flow and heat transfer in the structure. Because the main operation of the structure is taking place in the hydrodynamically developed flow, we develop a procedure for obtaining the Poiseuille number Po versus the shape of the duct. Knowledge of this number is a main step for the design and operation of the structure. The procedure developed herein is applied for the hexagonal ducts that are analysed in other papers and a good agreement is noticed. Main features of the procedure are its applicability to any noncircular duct and the possibility to use a commercial software package. Finally, the next steps for the design of this structure are specified.