On the generation of nonlinear travelling waves in confined geometries using electric fields

We investigate electrostatically induced interfacial instabilities and subsequent generation of nonlinear coherent structures in immiscible, viscous, dielectric multi-layer stratified flows confined in small-scale channels. Vertical electric fields are imposed across the channel to produce interfacial instabilities that would normally be absent in such flows. In situations when the imposed vertical fields are constant, interfacial instabilities emerge due to the presence of electrostatic forces, and we follow the nonlinear dynamics via direct numerical simulations. We also propose and illustrate a novel pumping mechanism in microfluidic devices that does not use moving parts. This is achieved by first inducing interfacial instabilities using constant background electric fields to obtain fully nonlinear deformations. The second step involves the manipulation of the imposed voltage on the lower electrode (channel wall) to produce a spatio-temporally varying voltage there, in the form of a travelling wave with pre-determined properties. Such travelling wave dielectrophoresis methods are shown to generate intricate fluid–surface–structure interactions that can be of practical value since they produce net mass flux along the channel and thus are candidates for microfluidic pumps without moving parts. We show via extensive direct numerical simulations that this pumping phenomenon is a result of an externally induced nonlinear travelling wave that forms at the fluid–fluid interface and study the characteristics of the generated velocity field inside the channel.