Passive control of viscous flow via elastic snap-through

We demonstrate the passive control of viscous flow in a channel by using an elastic arch embedded in the flow. Depending on the fluid flux, the arch may ‘snap’ between two states — constricting and unconstricting — that differ in hydraulic conductivity by up to an order of magnitude. We use a combination of experiments at a macroscopic scale and theory to study the constricting and unconstricting states, and determine the critical flux required to transition between them. We show that such a device may be precisely tuned for use in a range of applications, and in particular has potential as a passive microfluidic fuse to prevent excessive fluxes in rigid-walled channels.