Contraction/expansion effects in 90° miter bends in rectangular xurographic microchannels

Abstract

Xurography is an inexpensive rapid prototyping technology for the development of microfluidic systems. Imprecision in the xurographic tape cutting process can result in undesired changes in channel dimensions near features that require a change in cutting direction, such as 90° miter bends. An experimental study of water flow in rectangular xurographic microchannels incorporating 90° miter bends with different channel widths in each leg is reported. A set of twelve microchannels, with channel depth approximately 105 micrometers and aspect ratio ranging from 0.071 to 0.435, were fabricated from double-sided adhesive Kapton® polyimide tape and two rectangular glass plates. The channels were re..