Numerical study on bilateral stagger Cantor fractal baffles micromixer

Abstract

Changing the structure of microchannel or setting obstacles in microchannel has become an effective way to improve the mixing performance of passive micromixer. Here, we design a three-dimensional micromixer with fractal obstacles based on Cantor fractal principle. The effect of fractal obstacle level, micromixer height, spacing between fractal obstacles and different Re (Reynold number) on the mixing efficiency are studied. Some valuable conclusions are obtained. The micromixer with quadratic fractal obstacles has better mixing efficiency than the micromixer with primary fractal obstacles. With the increase of the micromixer height, the effective folding area of the fluid can be increased. When the spacing between the fractal barriers is 0µm, the mixing efficiency of the micromixer is better. The mixing efficiency of all micromixers can reach more than 90% at Re is less 0.1 or more than 40. When Re is 70 and 100, the fluid convection in the micromixer is very strong. Finally, a best micromixer CSM600(Cantor structure micromixer with height 600µm) is obtained. The mixing effect is superior to other micromixers under any conditions.