Channel switching and cross-T injection without externally activated valves

This paper describes an experimentally-validated framework for guiding flow down different channels in a fluidic network by modulating the excitation frequency of a single pressure source. The central concept is to use passive features that introduce frequency-dependent pressure-flow characteristics in each branch of a fluidic circuit. The results demonstrate that diodes can be used to create frequency-specific steady flow components without active valving, even though inputs are purely periodic. The experiments have been used to validate elementary circuit models, which provide a clear, quantitative and validated design framework for multi-channel networks whose flow timing and metering is controlled by a single active element.