Thickness-averaged model for numerical simulation of electroosmotic flow in three-dimensional microfluidic chips

The microfluidic system is a multi-physics interaction field that has attracted great attention. The electric double layers and electroosmosis are important flow-electricity interaction phenomena. This paper presents a thickness-averaged model to solve three-dimensional complex electroosmotic flows in a wide-shallow microchannel/chamber combined (MCC) chip based on the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow field and the Poisson equation to the electric field. Behaviors of the electroosmotic flow, the electric field, and the pressure are analyzed. The quantitative effects of the wall charge density (or the zeta potential) and the applied electric field on the electroosmotic flow rate are investigated. The two-dimensional thickness-averaged flow model greatly simplifies the three-dimensional computation of the complex electroosmotic flows, and correctly reflects the electrookinetic effects of the wall charge on the flow. The numerical results indicate that the electroosmotic flow rate of the thickness-averaged model agrees well with that of the three-dimensional slip-boundary flow model. The flow streamlines and pressure distribution of these two models are in qualitative agreement.