Obstructed breakup of slender drops in a microfluidic T junction

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-26-2012

Abstract

In this Letter we present a theoretical analysis of the droplet breakup with "permanent obstruction" in a microfluidic T junction [M.-C. Jullien et al., Phys. FluidsPHFLE61070-6631 21, 072001 (2009)10.1063/1.3170983]. The proposed theory is based on a simple geometric construction for the interface shape combined with Tanner's law for the local contact angle. The resulting scaling of the droplet deformation with time and capillary number is in excellent agreement with the results of direct numerical simulations and prior experiments. More rigorous analysis based on the lubrication approximation reveals a self-similar behavior analogous to the classical problem of a droplet spreading over a preexisting liquid film. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Identifier

84862998482 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.264502

e-ISSN

10797114

ISSN

00319007

Issue

26

Volume

108

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