Microfluidic networking: modelling and analysis

Droplets microfluidics refers to manipulation and control of little amounts of fluids flowing into channels of micro-scale size. Our aim, pursued in the present thesis, is to design a network formed by such microchannels and define a model to properly route the droplets inside them. However, this kind of study relies on the preliminary deep knowledge of microfluidic flow dynamics and typical propagation characteristics. Accordingly, we begin our dissertation by introducing the physical laws that govern microfluidics. Then, we discuss the current understandings about droplets formation, transport and their behavior in bifurcating channels, corroborating all with simulative results. Furthermore, we show how such concepts can be integrated in our networking solution and, lastly, we implement a microfluidic network with bus topology and illustrate its performance