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Thermal Micropump

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Hi all,

I am trying to build a model of a PDMS micropump that pumps a liquid stored inside its reservoir due to heat. When the air inside it expands due to heat, the liquid will be pumped out.
The heat source is a copper layer attached to the PDMS external walls, with a total power of 0.2 W.

I used heat transfer in solids and solid mechanics modules to simulate this model, but I kept getting an error saying:
"Failed to find a solution. In segregated group 2: The relative error (4) is greater than the relative tolerance. Returned solution is not converged".

- What is the reason behind that?
- Do you suggest using other modules, such as laminar flow or conjugate heat transfer?

Thank you so much
Best regards,
Marwan

2 Replies Last Post 10 juil. 2014, 13:31 UTC−4

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Posted: 1 decade ago 10 juil. 2014, 09:56 UTC−4
The Rayleigh number for your structure will determine whether or not natural convection will occur in your cavity. If it does, you need to use conjugated heat transfer, if not, heat transfer in sollids will suffice I think.
The Rayleigh number for your structure will determine whether or not natural convection will occur in your cavity. If it does, you need to use conjugated heat transfer, if not, heat transfer in sollids will suffice I think.

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Posted: 1 decade ago 10 juil. 2014, 13:31 UTC−4
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.

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