ESTIMATION OF THE SLIP LENGTH IN THE FLOW OF LIQUID IN MICRO-CHANNELS

Abstract

Research review of phenomenon for slip flow in micro and nanocannels is presented in the paper. The analysis of theoretical and experimental data characterizing the slip length is carried out. In slip flow in microchannels the slip length is affected by the contact angle of the liquid with the surface, shear stress, pressure, dissipative heating, the amount and nature of the dissolved gas in the liquid, electrical characteristics, surface roughness. Studies of flow in microchannels with hydrophobic walls, which are based on molecular dynamics, showed that the slip length has order of 20 nm. This is much less than the values observed in the experiment. The introduction of an effective (apparent) slip length suggests the existence of a thin layer of gas bubbles near the hydrophobic surface or liquid layer with low value of viscosity and density. Since the idealized model for the total coverage of a hydrophobic surface by gas bubbles gives, as a rule, overestimated values of the slip length in comparison with experimental ones, some researchers consider the inhomogeneous coating of the wall by gas bubbles. In this case, the effect of a layer with a lower viscosity on the slip length turns out to be weaker.