title: Packings of monodisperse emulsions in flat microfluidic channels.
abstract: In the lateral confinement of a flat microfluidic channel, monodisperse emulsion droplets spontaneously self-organize in a variety of topologically different packings. The explicit construction of mechanically equilibrated arrangements of effectively two-dimensional congruent droplet shapes reveals the existence of multiple mechanical equilibria depending on channel width W, droplet area A{d}, and volume fraction φ of the dispersed phase. The corresponding boundaries of local or global stability are summarized in a packing diagram for congruent droplet shapes in terms of the dimensionless channel width w=W/sqrt[A_{d}] and φ. In agreement with experimental results, an increasingly strong hysteresis of the transition between single-row and two-row packings is observed during changes of w above a threshold volume fraction of φ≃0.813.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstrasse 10, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ohle
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Claussen
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herminghaus
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brinkmann
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D004655:Emulsions