Articles techniques et présentations

This paper presents model development and simulation results for a microdroplet generator capable of internally measuring the volume of dispensed droplets. The system’s integrated sensing is enabled by storing compressible gas adjacent to the dispenser’s liquid reservoir. During actuation, the net change in the compressible gas pressure is correlated to the ejected droplet volume.

To validate this, the Laminar Multi-Phase Flow, and Level Set physics were used in COMSOL Multiphysics with a 2D axisymmetric model of the system. A linear relationship was found between maximum pressure change in the gas reservoir and droplet volume within a specific range of actuation pressure. This preliminary model will lead to the development of more robust virtual prototypes including fluid-structure interaction and piezoelectric models.