4K530 - Microfluidics: Dynamics of mixing

Contents

In this course one of the most important aspects of polymer processing is discussed, i.e. the mixing of polymers. Understanding of the principles of mixing is of great interest to polymer and food-processing industry, because of the high requirements that are demanded on the properties of blends and (bio-) polymers. Laminar chaotic mixing of highly viscous fluids is based on repeatingly stretching and folding to create thin striations, which will eventually break-up into small droplets. Both the distributive and dispersive aspects of mixing are discussed in this course. The topics, which are covered, include the general kinematics of mixing, dynamical systems, Poincaré maps, periodic points, Mapping method and mixing measures. Moreover, theoretical and experimental aspects of droplet deformation, breakup and coalescence are reviewed leading to an overview of the use different mixers and stirrers in practice. In addition, current and future research challenges will be illustrated, such as the influence of rheology on mixing and multi-scale models.