Enhancement of the stability of the flow focusing technique for low-viscosity liquids

Abstract

We propose a modified flow focusing configuration to produce low-viscosity microjets at much smaller flow rates than those reached by the standard configuration. In the modified flow focusing device, a sharpened rod blocks the recirculation cell appearing in the tapering liquid meniscus for low flow rates, which considerably improves its stability. We measured the minimum flow rates attainable with the modified configuration and compared the results with the corresponding values for the standard technique. For moderate and large applied pressure drops, the minimum flow rate reached with the modified configuration was about five times smaller than its counterpart in the standard configuration. The Weber numbers of the jets produced with the modified flow focusing configuration were considerably smaller than those with the standard technique. Numerical simulations were conducted to show how the presence of the inner rod substantially changes the flow pattern in the liquid meniscus.