The mapping method as a toolbox to analyze, design, and optimize micromixers

The mapping method is employed as an efficient toolbox to analyze, design, and optimize micromixers. A new and simplified formulation of this technique is introduced here and applied to three micromixers: the staggered herringbone micromixer (SHM), the barrier-embedded micromixer (BEM), and the three-dimensional serpentine channel (3D-SC). The mapping method computes a distribution matrix that maps the color concentration distribution from inlet to outlet of a micromixer to characterize mixing in a quantitative way. Once the necessary distribution matrices are obtained, computations are fast and numerous layouts of the mixer are easily evaluated, resulting in an optimal design. This approach is demonstrated using the SHM and the BEM as typical examples. Mixing analysis in the 3D-SC illustrates that also complex flows, for example in the presence of back-flows, can be efficiently dealt with by using the new formulation of the mapping method.