Experimental investigation of passive micromixers conceptual design using the layout optimization method

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the novel efficient passive micromixers conceptual design using the flexible layout optimization method. Utilizing the layout optimization method when designing passive micromixers results in decreased reliance on the experience and intuition of designers. The detailed layout of passive micromixers is obtained by solving a variational optimization problem, in which the manufacturability and periodicity of passive micromixers can be considered by adding the corresponding design constraints. The obtained micromixers are fabricated by using polydimethylsiloxane soft photolithography techniques. The mixing performance is evaluated by stereoscopic and confocal microscopes. The effectiveness of the layout optimization method is confirmed by a comparison of the numerical and experimental results. (paper)