Numerical investigation of compressibility effects on friction factor in rectangular microchannels

This study numerically investigated the effect of gas compressibility on the friction factor in rectangular microchannels. The numerical model adopted in the study was validated against experimental data obtained by testing rectangular microchannels with a hydraulic diameter of 295 mu m. The numerical model was used to evaluate the Reynolds number at which the compressibility effects on the friction factor became significant by analyzing the role of both hydraulic diameter and aspect ratio of the microchannel. To this end, three values of the hydraulic diameter (100, 295, and 500 mu m) and five different aspect ratios (from 0.25 to 1) were investigated. The results showed that compressibility effects became increasingly stronger by reducing the hydraulic diameter and that they led to an increase in the average friction factor. For smaller microchannels, the Reynolds numbers at which the compressibility effects became significant tended to reduce and were in the laminar regime. The gas compressibility could not be ignored when friction factors needed to be accurately determined. Moreover, for narrow microchannels (low aspect ratio), compressibility effects became important for higher values of the Reynolds number than those observed for nearly squared microchannels.