Rheological studies in micro-fluids with oscillation flow

Front micro-rheology is a new method for analyzing fluid samples and obtaining their viscous behavior. This technique stands out from other rheometers because of its small size, the ability to measure very small samples of fluid and its high measurement speed. These advantages make this rheometer a very useful device for the diagnosis of diseases using biofluids as sample.On the other hand, the study of the oscillatory flow not only allows to obtain the viscosity pro-file of a fluid, but also provides information on the elasticity of the fluid allowing to make a complete rheological analysis.The objective of this project is to study how a fluid behaves in a front microrheometer with oscillating flow.To address the procedure, we had developed a set-up powered by a piezoelectric submit to an alternating current to generate the flow. A T-connected sensor is in charge of measuring the-pressure and a camera is in charge of measuring the position of the front in a microchannel. We have found the correct value of viscosity for different Newtonian fluids, that the relation-ship between pressure and velocity (which characterizes the viscosity) depends on the applied frequency, and that the capillary pressure is negligible at low frequencies and conversely, the piezoelectric pressure is negligible at high frequencies