Galletti, C.Brunazzi, E.Mauri, R.2014-12-092014-12-092012Galletti, C, Brunazzi, E & Mauri, R 2012, Influence of the inlet conditions on the degree of mixing of a t-shaped micro-mixer, Paper presented to the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.9781868549863http://hdl.handle.net/2263/42892Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.The degree of mixing of a T-shaped micro-mixer depends strongly on the inlet flow conditions. Specifically, through a series of numerical simulations, we compared the case where the flow at the micro-mixer confluence is fully developed with that when it is not, and found that in the former case engulfment occurs at smaller Reynolds number, with a different flow pattern and with much larger mixing efficiencies than in the latter case. In particular for fully developed flow conditions the engulfment shows S-shaped morphology, whereas for non- fully developed inlets a symmetry breaking occurs, leading to a C-shaped engulfment pattern. This is characterized by much lower mixing efficiencies.6 pagesPDFenUniversity of PretoriaT-shaped micro-mixerInlet flow conditionsMicro-mixerFlow patternMixing efficienciesS-shaped morphologyC-shaped engulfment patternPresentation