Experimental study for the control of two-phase microfluidic flows

Abstract

Microfluidic systems can be considered as nonlinear dynamical systems. In the perspective of control systems toward the development of highly integrated and portable Lab on a Chip systems (LOC), is of primary importance the identification of the nonlinear processes involved in such phenomena. The main aims achieved in this PhD thesis are: the identification of input-output relation maps for the two-phase flow patterns, the design of innovative PDMS micro-optical systems for microfluidics' monitoring, the parameters estimation of a mathematical model by means of synchronization of two dynamical systems. These experimental studies open the way for the control of two-phase microfluidic flows through signal processing.