  The concept and synthesis approach for planar Compliant Fluidic Control
Structures (CFCSs), monolithic flexible continua with embedded functional
pores, is presented in this manuscript. Such structures are envisioned to find
application in biomedicine as tunable microuidic devices for drug/nutrient
delivery. The functional pores enlarge and/or contract upondeformation of the
compliant structure in response to external stimuli, facilitating the regulated
control of fluid/nutrient/drug transport. A thickness design variable based
topology optimization problem is formulated to generate effective designs of
these structures. An objective based on hydraulic diameter(s) is
conceptualized, and it is extremized using a gradient based optimizer. Both
geometrical and material nonlinearities are considered. The nonlinear behaviour
of employed hyperelastic material is modeled via the Arruda-Boyce constitutive
material model. Large-displacement finite element analysis is performed using
the updated Lagrangian formulation in plane-stress setting. The proposed
synthesis approach is applied to various CFCSs for a variety of fluidic control
functionalities. The optimized designs of various CFCSs with single and/or
multiple functional pores are fabricated via a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) soft
lithography process, using a high precision 3D printed mold and their
performances are compared. with the numerical predictions.
