Fluid dynamics effect in large arrays
Raghu Ande  1@  
1 : Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury
Ilam road, Christchurch, 8041 -  New Zealand

Fluid dynamics investigation of coupled oscillators and arrays of beams are important for several applications in biology, medicine, and especially and increasingly for MEMS and NEMS sensors. The most available literature on oscillators is either a single beam or small-sized arrays. Limited literature is available concerning the dynamics of large-sized arrays of beams. Our group has dedicated its research goals to understanding coupled MEMS oscillators and array dynamics to enhance technologies such as fast-scan AFM, nanometrology, and precision lithography. Some of these applications require knowledge of arrays in a fluidic environment. Before investigating fluid-structure interactions of such large-array a sound understanding of the fluid motion is required, which is the focus of this work. We investigate a large array of beams using the boundary integral technique, where the flow is governed by unsteady Stokes and Continuity equation. The analysis is performed for all beams that are equally excited in phase for different gap sizes between the beams at different Reynolds numbers, including the comparison of an increasing array size with the same and varying array lengths. Results include the onset of array effects, added mass, and viscous dissipation for a critical number of beams $M$, the gap between the beams and Reynolds numbers. The analysis suggests an increase in interactions between the neighbor and non-neighbor beams with an increase in array size at the same array length. The work guides for the design of arrays in fluids for different spacing and Reynolds numbers.


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