Chapter 5
Designing Meanders
The dimensioning considered in the previous chapter results in specifications
of the microfluidic components, which next have to be realized in a physical
design. When drawing physical designs, designers often have to handle re-occurring
entities. Meander channels are one example and represent central microfluidic
entities, which frequently occur in droplet microfluidic networks [29, 70] but also
in pressure-driven laminar flow [93] as well as paper-based devices [61]. These
serpentine-shaped channels and the hydraulic resistance they embody facilitate a
number of functions, i.e. they are utilized to accomplish a delay of flow [94], to set
mixing ratios in diluter networks [26, 93], to adjust the overall operating point of
a system [31], or to realize a channel with a specific resistance as obtained by the
methods proposed in Chap. 4 and [49].
But even for this frequently re-occurring entity, designers still have to manually
draw the meander channel for their respective application (e.g., ensuring a desired
resistance and area constraints) and design rules (e.g., channel section, minimum
bend radius, and minimum lateral channel distance). For example, up to now,
designers have to use design tools such as AutoCAD, Solid Edge, or Inkscape to
draw the meander design consisting of lines and radii [78]. Here, modern design
tools at least allow to define parameterized models, which allow for quick adoptions
of design features [123]. However, these models are limited to a single CAD tool
and, hence, are not generally applicable. Moreover, no model for meanders exists
yet. Consequently, no automatic tool exists which allows to generate meander
designs.
This chapter presents a method (based on [47]), which automates the tedious task
of drawing the physical design of meander channels while still retaining the full
control over the design. This method is distributed as an online tool called Meander
Designer, which runs on a HTML webpage and can be freely accessed at http://iic.
jku.at/eda/research/meander_designer/. The Meander Designer allows designers to
automatically generate meander channels with a desired fluidic resistance for their
respective needs and by taking restrictions from the fabrication process into account.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Grimmer, R. Wille, Designing Droplet Microfluidic Networks,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20713-7_5
63
Designing Meanders
The dimensioning considered in the previous chapter results in specifications
of the microfluidic components, which next have to be realized in a physical
design. When drawing physical designs, designers often have to handle re-occurring
entities. Meander channels are one example and represent central microfluidic
entities, which frequently occur in droplet microfluidic networks [29, 70] but also
in pressure-driven laminar flow [93] as well as paper-based devices [61]. These
serpentine-shaped channels and the hydraulic resistance they embody facilitate a
number of functions, i.e. they are utilized to accomplish a delay of flow [94], to set
mixing ratios in diluter networks [26, 93], to adjust the overall operating point of
a system [31], or to realize a channel with a specific resistance as obtained by the
methods proposed in Chap. 4 and [49].
But even for this frequently re-occurring entity, designers still have to manually
draw the meander channel for their respective application (e.g., ensuring a desired
resistance and area constraints) and design rules (e.g., channel section, minimum
bend radius, and minimum lateral channel distance). For example, up to now,
designers have to use design tools such as AutoCAD, Solid Edge, or Inkscape to
draw the meander design consisting of lines and radii [78]. Here, modern design
tools at least allow to define parameterized models, which allow for quick adoptions
of design features [123]. However, these models are limited to a single CAD tool
and, hence, are not generally applicable. Moreover, no model for meanders exists
yet. Consequently, no automatic tool exists which allows to generate meander
designs.
This chapter presents a method (based on [47]), which automates the tedious task
of drawing the physical design of meander channels while still retaining the full
control over the design. This method is distributed as an online tool called Meander
Designer, which runs on a HTML webpage and can be freely accessed at http://iic.
jku.at/eda/research/meander_designer/. The Meander Designer allows designers to
automatically generate meander channels with a desired fluidic resistance for their
respective needs and by taking restrictions from the fabrication process into account.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Grimmer, R. Wille, Designing Droplet Microfluidic Networks,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20713-7_5
63