Modeling of the pressure fluctuations induced by the process of droplet formation in a T-junction microdroplet generator

To quantitatively study the pressure fluctuations induced by the process of droplet formation in a T-junction microdroplet generator, the mathematical model which can accurately predict the amplitude and the frequency of the pressure fluctuations is demonstrated. Different geometries of the T-junction microchannels are designed for the experiments of droplet formation, and the time-varying pressure difference between the upstream and downstream of each droplet is measured during the droplet production progress. From both theoretical and experimental study, it can be observed the pressure difference is a periodic function of time for the whole process of droplet generation. In particular, the frequency of the pressure fluctuations coincides with the production rate of droplets, and the amplitude of the pressure fluctuations varies with the geometrical parameters of the T-junctions. Additionally, good agreements are shown between the theoretical calculations and the experimental measurements of the magnitude of the pressure fluctuations. Therefore, our mathematical model is validated experimentally, and the magnitude of the pressure fluctuations can be drastically reduced by optimization of the geometrical parameters of the T-junction. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.