In laminar mixing, geometry can enhance advective mixing. In this study, a 3D serpentine structure is proposed for effective mixing at low Reynolds numbers. Mixing performance of 3D channel fabricated by 3D printer was compared with that of straight and 2D serpentine channels via numerical simulation and experiments. In simulation results, mixing in 3D channel is the most efficient. Higher flow variability for 3D channel leads to the up, down, left, and right movements of transverse flow. However, flow in 2D channel moves in the left and right of the cross section. In addition, Dean flow generated in the bend enhances the mixing performance. While increasing the Reynolds numbers from 5 to 30, the mixing index was also checked in both a numerical simulation and experiment. The proposed 3D serpentine structure could have potential for mixing applications such as a minimized biochip system at low Reynolds number.

在层流混合中，几何形状可以增强平流混合。在这项研究中，提出了一种 3D 蛇形结构，用于在低雷诺数下进行有效混合。通过数值模拟和实验，比较了 3D 打印机制造的 3D 通道与直线和 2D 蛇形通道的混合性能。在模拟结果中，在 3D 通道中混合是最有效的。3D 通道的较高流动可变性导致横向流动的上、下、左和右运动。然而，二维通道中的流动在横截面的左侧和右侧移动。此外，在弯头中产生的 Dean 流动增强了混合性能。在将雷诺数从 5 增加到 30 的同时，还在数值模拟和实验中检查了混合指数。