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Y-shaped microfluidic channels have been built with Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and laser cutting manufacturing techniques. Fluid is delivered to each port via external syringe pumps. Each Y-shaped channel contains thermal inkjet (TIJ) resistors built using conventional microfabrication techniques. The resistors vaporize water and generate drive bubbles. This work focuses on utilizing TIJ technology as an active mixing technique in microfluidics. By varying the electrical firing frequency of the resistors, fluid was successfully mixed with an effective mixing length equal to the length of the TIJ resistor. As such, we demonstrate the use of TIJ resistors as a scalable, active mixing approach in microfluidics. A metric to characterize the extent of mixing using TIJ resistors was proposed and utilized. In addition, the fundamental framework of TIJ bubble dynamics with respects to mixing was assessed.

As the power output of direct drive generators increases, they become prohibitively large with much of this material structural support. In this work, implicit modeling was coupled to finite element analysis through a genetic algorithm variant to automate lattice optimization for the rotor of a 5 MW permanent magnet direct drive generator for mass reduction. Three triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) were chosen: Diamond, Schwartz Primitive, and Gyroid. Parameter and functionally graded lattice optimization were employed to reduce mass within deflection criteria. Inactive mass for the 5 MW Diamond, Schwartz Primitive, and Gyroid optimized designs was 10,043, 10,858, and 10,990 kg, respectively. The Schwartz Primitive rotor resulted in a 34% reduction in inactive mass compared to a 5 MW baseline design. Radial and axial deflections were below the critical limit of 0.65 and 32.17 mm, respectively. The lowest torsional deflection was seen in the Schwartz Primitive TPMS lattice at 3.89 mm. Based on these designs, hybrid additive manufacturing with investment casting was used to validate manufacturability in metal. A fused deposition modeling (FDM) TPMS topology was printed for validation of the FEA results. Comparison between digital image correlation of the FDM printed design and FEA design resulted in a 6.7% deformation difference for equivalent loading conditions.