Numerical Study and Performance Analyses of Mems-Based Particle Velocity Sensor with Combined Inclined Rib Pair

The combined inclined rib pair (CIRP) is the first time proposed to improve the sensor performance of particle velocity sensor (PVS) by using a three-dimensional numerical method. The method is verified by the experiment results in the literature. The optimal plain channel parameters are determined as the basic sensor structure. In comparison of plain channel, both heat transfer characteristics and sensor performance are enhanced effectively by arranging the CIRP. The reason is that the high flow rate region caused by the CIRP can maintain strongly in the whole fluid field if there are enough rib pairs. Furthermore, the produced longitudinal vortex pair can get a better fluid mix, which is more conductive to heat transfer. The increasing height and number of the CIRP can improve the heat transfer characteristics, but the flow resistance will increase as well. For the purpose of finding the best overall performance, the effects of the parameters including the geometric sizes and the position of the CIRP have been investigated. The results show that PVS will get the best sensitivity when the rib length and width are 0.2 mm and 0.03 mm respectively, and the distance between rib pair and between ribs in the same pair are 0.15 mm and 0.3 mm respectively. Besides, the most suitable crossing angle is 45°. Thus, the performance of PVS can be significantly improved by this novel structure.