Microfluidics for Aerospace Applications

Development of microfluidic devices for aerospace applications has been mainly focused on three areas relevant to the aerospace industry: aerodynamic flow control in aerospace vehicles, micropower generators, and micropropulsion devices. Microfluidic jets have been used for thrust vectoring, suppression of jet impingement noise, and control resonant cavity oscillations. Supersonic microjets of 400 μm size placed circumferentially at the edge of a round jet have been used for control of jet impingement noise produced by the resonant oscillations of an impinging jet. All the components shown in the schematic have to be fabricated in a single unit using microfabrication techniques, and work is under progress in this direction. The miniature microfluidic systems or “lab-on-a-chip” technology renders itself very useful for many extraterrestrial applications such as life-support systems, environmental monitoring, and astrobiology. Microfluidics technology will have a large impact on the future developments in the aerospace industry.