Accelerated Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Microfluidic Devices by Exploiting Higher Levels of Abstraction.

The design of microfluidic devices is a cumbersome and tedious process that can be significantly improved by simulation. Methods based on (CFD) are considered state-of-the-art, but require extensive compute time-oftentimes limiting the size of microfluidic devices that can be simulated. Simulation methods that abstract the underlying physics on a higher level generally provide results instantly, but the fidelity of these methods is usually worse.

Simulation of Pressure-Driven and Channel-Based Microfluidics on Different Abstract Levels: A Case Study.

A microfluidic device, or a Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC), performs lab operations on the microscale through the manipulation of fluids. The design and fabrication of such devices usually is a tedious process, and auxiliary tools, such as simulators, can alleviate the necessary effort for the design process. Simulations of fluids exist in various forms and can be categorized according to how well they represent the underlying physics, into so-called abstraction levels.