Electrohydrodynamic modeling of microdroplet transient dynamics in electrocapillary-based digital microfluidic devices

In this article, a multiphysics approach is used to develop a model for microdroplet motion and dynamics in contemporary electrocapillary-based digital microfluidic systems. Electrostatic and hydrodynamic pressure effects are combined to calculate the driving and opposing forces as well as the moving boundary of the microdroplet. The proposed methodology accurately predicts the microdroplet electrohydrodynamics which is crucial for the design, control and fabrication of such devices. The results obtained from the model are in excellent agreement with expected trends and experimental results.