Pumping effect of bubble growth and collapse in microchannels: Thermo-hydraulic modeling

In the past two decades, microfluidic systems have become more appealing due to their wideapplications in many areas, such as electronics, biotechnology, medicine, etc. recently, the advantages ofusing the bubble growth phenomenon as a robust actuator in microfluidic devices have directed researchinterests towards the investigation of various applications. in this research, a new transient thermo-hydraulic model has been developed for bubble growth in confined volumes. the present model hasbeen used to describe the pumping effect produced by the bubble growth and collapse phenomenon inmicrochannels. the results show relatively good agreement with experimental data. this study is useful ingetting a better understanding of the bubble growth mechanism in confined volumes, and its applicationas a reliable micro actuator.