Simulation and analysis of flow through microchannel

One-dimensional and two-dimensional models for microchannel flow with noncontinuum (slip flow) boundary conditions have been presented here. This study presents an efficient numerical procedure using pressure-correction-based iterative SIMPLE algorithm with QUICK scheme in convective terms to simulate a steady incompressible two-dimensional flow through a microchannel. In the present work, the slip flow of liquid through a microchannel has been modeled using a slip length assumption instead of using conventional Maxwell's slip flow model, which essentially utilizes the molecular mean free path concept. The models developed, following this approach, lend an insight into the physics of liquid flow through microchannels. (C) 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.