Propulsion of a microsubmarine using a thermally oscillatory approach

Qiao, Lei; Luo, Cheng

doi:10.1088/0960-1317/23/10/105011

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In-Situ Observation of the Flows Inside Water Drops. To validate the proposed model, as done in one of our previous works, 26 the flows inside water drops were directly observed with the aid of microparticles when these drops were squeezed and relaxed. To clearly see the movements of microparticles, a lamp was placed beside the corresponding experimental setup to provide additional light.…”

Section: Squeezing and Relaxing Of A Drop Betweenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavior of a Liquid Drop between Two Nonparallel Plates

2014

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Liquid drops have shown interesting behaviors between two nonparallel plates. These plates may be fixed or movable relative to each other. In this work, we also explore these behaviors through a combination of theoretical and experimental investigations and obtain some new results. We show that when the two plates are fixed, different from the previous understanding, a lyophilic drop may not necessarily fill the corner of the two plates. We also demonstrate that it may fill the corner, when more liquid is added to the drop or when the top plate is lifted. Furthermore, we propose a physical model to interpret the shifting effect of a liquid drop. This effect appears when the drop is squeezed and relaxed between two nonparallel plates, and it has been used by some shorebirds to transport prey. On the basis of the proposed model, we have found three new phenomena related to the shifting effect.

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Section: Squeezing and Relaxing Of A Drop Betweenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavior of a Liquid Drop between Two Nonparallel Plates

2014

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“…This device could swim at a maximum of 1.35 mm s −1 unidirectionally. Besides acoustic excitation, AC electrowetting 20 and thermal excitations 21 were employed to oscillate bubbles. The obvious excellence of acoustic excitation is the transmission of power (acoustic field) wirelessly using a simple external acoustic actuator, which has motivated many to widen its application to many microfluidic components 22 such as pumps, 23,24 mixers, 22,23 manipulators, [25][26][27][28] etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micropropulsion by an acoustic bubble for navigating microfluidic spaces

2015

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This paper describes an underwater micropropulsion principle where a gaseous bubble trapped in a suspended microchannel and oscillated by external acoustic excitation generates a propelling force. The propelling swimmer is designed and microfabricated from parylene on the microscale (the equivalent diameter of the cylindrical bubble is around 60 μm) using microphotolithography. The propulsion mechanism is studied and verified by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations as well as experiments. The acoustically excited and thus periodically oscillating bubble generates alternating flows of intake and discharge through an opening of the microchannel. As the Reynolds number of oscillating flow increases, the difference between the intake and discharge flows becomes significant enough to generate a net flow (microstreaming flow) and a propulsion force against the channel. As the size of the device is reduced, however, the Reynolds number is also reduced. To maintain the Reynolds number in a certain range and thus generate a strong propulsion force in the fabricated device, the oscillation amplitude of the bubble is maximized (resonated) and the oscillation frequency is set high (over 10 kHz). Propelling motions by a single bubble as well as an array of bubbles are achieved on the microscale. In addition, the microswimmer demonstrates payload carrying. This propulsion mechanism may be applied to microswimmers that navigate microfluidic environments and possibly narrow passages in human bodies to perform biosensing, drug delivery, imaging, and microsurgery.

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“…The bubble oscillation was made by electrically changing the contact angle of the bubbles [50]. In addition to the acoustic and electro wetting excitations, the thermal excitation could also be used for the similar propulsion [51] where the oscillation frequency was quite low (100 Hz).…”

Section: Propulsion By Bubblesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mini and Micro Propulsion for Medical Swimmers

Feng

Cho

2014

Micromachines

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Mini and micro robots, which can swim in an underwater environment, have drawn widespread research interests because of their potential applicability to the medical or biological fields, including delivery and transportation of bio-materials and drugs, bio-sensing, and bio-surgery. This paper reviews the recent ideas and developments of these types of self-propelling devices, ranging from the millimeter scale down to the micro and even the nano scale. Specifically, this review article makes an emphasis on various propulsion principles, including methods of utilizing smart actuators, external magnetic/electric/acoustic fields, bacteria, chemical reactions, etc. In addition, we compare the propelling speed range, directional control schemes, and advantages of the above principles.

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Propulsion of a microsubmarine using a thermally oscillatory approach

Cited by 4 publications

References 29 publications

Behavior of a Liquid Drop between Two Nonparallel Plates

Behavior of a Liquid Drop between Two Nonparallel Plates

Micropropulsion by an acoustic bubble for navigating microfluidic spaces

Mini and Micro Propulsion for Medical Swimmers

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