Poiseuille number for the fully developed laminar flow through hexagonal ducts etched in 〈1 0 0〉 silicon ☆

This paper focuses on a main subject encountered in the design process of the hexagonal ducts etched in silicon, namely, the achievement of the Poiseuille number Po for the velocity field of the fully developed laminar flow. The particular shape of the duct is determined by silicon technology. This type of duct is the main part of a structure for the determination of fluid and flow parameters. We develop a procedure for obtaining Po versus the aspect ratio of the hexagonal cross section. The validity of this procedure is proven using different shapes of cross sections. We underline the merit of this procedure, namely, its applicability using a commercial software package in a rather straightforward manner. The results presented in this paper might be adapted for many other situations encountered both in micro and macro world where devices containing ducts having various non-circular cross sections are present.