Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 14: Poster Session II

BP 14.83: Poster

Dienstag, 10. März 2026, 18:00–21:00, P2

Plasma elastic properties in cross microchannels — •Michelle Kron, Joséphine Van Hulle, and Christian Wagner — Experimental Physics Saarland University

Cross-slot microfluidic geometries produce planar extensional flows and are used to investigate flow instabilities in Newtonian and complex fluids. In Newtonian liquids, an inertial instability produces a steady vortex beyond a critical Reynolds number. In viscoelastic polymer solutions, elastic stresses near the stagnation point lower this threshold. Here we investigate human plasma, which is weakly elastic under extensional flow. Using cross-slot experiments, we quantify how plasma elasticity shifts the Reynolds number threshold for vortex onset and compare the impact of common anticoagulants on this response. We show that plasma reduces the Reynolds-number threshold for vortex onset, underscoring the importance of considering its weak elasticity for physiological studies.

Keywords: microfluidics; biological fluids; cross-slot Experiments