Time periodic pulse electroosmotic flow of Jeffreys fluids through a parallel plate microchannel

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the time periodic pulse electroosmotic flow (EOF) of Jeffreys fluids through a parallel plate microchannel. The driving mode of pulse EOF here is considered as a rectangle pulse. Using the method of Laplace transform, the analytical solution of velocity and volumetric flow rate of pulse EOF is derived. The effects of pertinent dimensionless parameters on the velocity and volumetric flow rate are discussed in detail. Results show that the pulse width a over bar is a valuable parameter for analyzing the influence of relaxation time lambda over bar 1 and retardation time lambda over bar 2 on magnitude of velocity and volumetric flow rate when the fluid flow reaches the steady state. Increasing the relaxation time lambda over bar 1 reduces he magnitude of velocity and volumetric flow rate at low value pulse width a over bar , yet the trend is opposite for larger pulse width a over bar . The increase of retardation time lambda over bar 2 will reduce the magnitude of velocity and volumetric flow rate no matter whether the value of pulse width a over bar is large or not. Furthermore, the frequency of velocity profile and volumetric flow rate is different because of the different pulse width a over bar . With the increase of pulse width a over bar , the different change frequency of velocity profile and volumetric flow rate slows down, which means a long cycle time. And as the relaxation time lambda over bar 1 and pulse width a over bar grow, the time required for the fluid flow to reach a steady state will become longer. The conclusions have theoretical significance for biofluid based microfluidic transport systems driven by pulsed electric field.