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	'''μFluids@Home''' (also written '''uFluids@Home''') was a [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing\|volunteer computing]] project built on the [[wikipedia:Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing\|BOINC]] platform, operated by [[wikipedia:Purdue University\|Purdue University]]'s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The project used the [[wikipedia:Surface Evolver\|Surface Evolver]] program, a finite-element package for modeling surfaces shaped by [[wikipedia:Surface tension\|surface tension]], to simulate [[wikipedia:Two-phase flow\|two-phase flow]] behavior in [[wikipedia:Microgravity\|microgravity]] and [[wikipedia:Microfluidics\|microfluidics]] problems.<ref name="wp">{{Cite web\|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFluids@Home\|title=UFluids@Home\|website=Wikipedia\|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref><ref name="official">{{Cite web\|url=http://www.ufluids.net/\|title=What is μFluids?\|website=ufluids.net\|publisher=Purdue University\|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>		'''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120722101023/http://www.ufluids.net/ μFluids@Home]''' (also written '''uFluids@Home''') was a [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing\|volunteer computing]] project built on the [[wikipedia:Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing\|BOINC]] platform, operated by [[wikipedia:Purdue University\|Purdue University]]'s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The project used the [[wikipedia:Surface Evolver\|Surface Evolver]] program, a finite-element package for modeling surfaces shaped by [[wikipedia:Surface tension\|surface tension]], to simulate [[wikipedia:Two-phase flow\|two-phase flow]] behavior in [[wikipedia:Microgravity\|microgravity]] and [[wikipedia:Microfluidics\|microfluidics]] problems.<ref name="wp">{{Cite web\|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFluids@Home\|title=UFluids@Home\|website=Wikipedia\|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref><ref name="official">{{Cite web\|url=http://www.ufluids.net/\|title=What is μFluids?\|website=ufluids.net\|publisher=Purdue University\|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>

	[[File:Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering Purdue University 2016 04.jpg\|thumb\|The Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University, home to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.]]		[[File:Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering Purdue University 2016 04.jpg\|thumb\|The Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University, home to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.]]

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{{Infobox software
| name = μFluids@Home
| logo = Ufluids.jpg
| logo caption =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| description = μFluids@Home was a completed BOINC volunteer computing project run by Purdue University's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, using the Surface Evolver program to simulate two-phase fluid behavior in microgravity and microfluidics, in support of research into satellite propellant management and lab-on-a-chip devices.
| status = Completed
| category = Engineering
| compute = CPU
| dependencies = None
| developer = Steven H. Collicott
| author = Steven H. Collicott
| sponsor = [[wikipedia:Purdue University|Purdue University]] School of Aeronautics and Astronautics
| maintainer = μFluids@Home team (inactive)
| released = {{Start date and age|2005|09|19}}
| completed =
| discontinued = {{Start date and age|2012|07|22}}
| repository =
| programming language =
| operating system = Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS)
| size = ~500 kB per work unit
| stats as of = {{Start date and age|2011|06|29}}
| average performance =
| active users =
| total users =
| active hosts = 2340
| total hosts =
| rac =
| credit per day =
| gpu performance =
| cpu performance =
| website = {{URL|http://www.ufluids.net/}}
| license = Unknown
}}

{{Lowercase title}}

'''μFluids@Home''' (also written '''uFluids@Home''') was a [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing|volunteer computing]] project built on the [[wikipedia:Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing|BOINC]] platform, operated by [[wikipedia:Purdue University|Purdue University]]'s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The project used the [[wikipedia:Surface Evolver|Surface Evolver]] program, a finite-element package for modeling surfaces shaped by [[wikipedia:Surface tension|surface tension]], to simulate [[wikipedia:Two-phase flow|two-phase flow]] behavior in [[wikipedia:Microgravity|microgravity]] and [[wikipedia:Microfluidics|microfluidics]] problems.<ref name="wp">{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFluids@Home|title=UFluids@Home|website=Wikipedia|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref><ref name="official">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ufluids.net/|title=What is μFluids?|website=ufluids.net|publisher=Purdue University|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>

[[File:Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering Purdue University 2016 04.jpg|thumb|The Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering at Purdue University, home to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.]]

== Overview ==
According to the project's own description, μFluids was <nowiki>"</nowiki>a massively distributed computer simulation of two-phase fluid behavior in microgravity and microfluidics problems.<nowiki>"</nowiki> Its stated goal was to design better satellite propellant management devices and to address two-phase flow in microchannel and [[wikipedia:Microelectromechanical systems|MEMS]] devices.<ref name="official" /> Volunteers contributed idle CPU time on their home computers to run the Surface Evolver simulations that underpinned this research.<ref name="official" />

The project's purpose, as summarized by Wikipedia, was to develop better methods for managing [[wikipedia:Liquid rocket propellant|liquid rocket propellants]] in microgravity, and to investigate two-phase flow in MEMS devices, taking into account factors such as surface tension.<ref name="wp" /> Systems using [[wikipedia:Electrowetting|electrowetting]], channel [[wikipedia:Geometry|geometry]], and [[wikipedia:Hydrophobe|hydrophobic]] or [[wikipedia:Hydrophile|hydrophilic]] coatings to allow the smooth passage of fluids could then be designed, with potential applications in compact [[wikipedia:Medical device|medical devices]], [[wikipedia:Biosensor|biosensors]], and [[wikipedia:Fuel cell|fuel cells]].<ref name="wp" />

== History ==
μFluids@Home was developed at Purdue University under [[Steven H. Collicott|Professor Steven H. Collicott]] of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Collicott's research group specializes in the use of the Surface Evolver code for capillary fluid statics problems, work that traces back to support for the Gravity Probe-B satellite beginning in 1993.<ref name="collicott-profile">{{Cite web|url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/people/ptProfile?resource_id=1370|title=Steven Collicott|website=Our People, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics|publisher=Purdue University|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>

[[wikipedia:Wikidata|Wikidata]] records the project's inception as 19 September 2005.<ref name="wikidata">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3266554|title=μFluids@Home|website=Wikidata|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref> Community discussion of the project on BOINC-oriented forums is documented from at least 2007, when the project was still described as being in a testing phase with no [[wikipedia:XML|XML]] statistics feed yet available.<ref name="mundayweb">{{Cite web|url=https://mundayweb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=457|title=uFluids@Home|website=MundayWeb.com forum|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref> Volunteers continued to join BOINC teams for μFluids into 2011.<ref name="setiusa">{{Cite web|url=https://www.setiusa.us/showthread.php?518-Welcome-New-members-For-January-2011!/page4&p=6268|title=Welcome New members For January 2011!|website=SETI.USA Forums|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>

The project's official domain, ufluids.net, was still being referenced in project listings as late as 2012.<ref name="handwiki">{{Cite web|url=https://handwiki.org/wiki/List_of_distributed_computing_projects|title=List of distributed computing projects|website=HandWiki|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref> No BOINC work distribution has been documented since. As of 2026 the domain still resolves and serves a static description page, but its backing database is offline, returning a MySQL connection error rather than live project statistics.<ref name="official" /> No archived RAC, host count, or user count statistics for μFluids appear to have survived on third-party BOINC statistics aggregators, and the project's precise shutdown date does not appear to have been formally documented.

== Research goals ==
Purdue's aerospace engineering program, through Professor Collicott's group, has long focused on [[wikipedia:Capillary action|capillary]] effects in weightless environments, including designing propellant gauging and management systems for satellites.<ref name="purdue-satellite">{{Cite web|url=http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007b/070905CollicottSatellites.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615122243/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007b/070905CollicottSatellites.html|archive-date=2011-06-15|title=Engineers rescue aging satellites, saving millions|website=Purdue News|date=2007-09-05|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref> Related Purdue research covered by the university's news service examined fuel injection behavior in rocket engines,<ref name="purdue-rocket">{{Cite web|url=http://news.uns.purdue.edu/insidepurdue/2009/090716_ResearchCollicott.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615122836/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/insidepurdue/2009/090716_ResearchCollicott.html|archive-date=2011-06-15|title=Research focuses on fuel injection in rockets|website=Purdue News|date=2009-07-16|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref> and lower-cost approaches to lab-on-a-chip device fabrication.<ref name="purdue-labchip">{{Cite web|url=http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090421WereleyChips.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615122410/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090421WereleyChips.html|archive-date=2011-06-15|title=Innovation could make lab-on-a-chip devices easier to use, cheaper to make|website=Purdue News|date=2009-04-21|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>

These themes, propellant management, MEMS two-phase flow, and low-cost microfluidic devices, map directly onto the stated goals of the μFluids@Home project.<ref name="wp" /><ref name="official" />

A central physical relationship in this class of problem is the [[wikipedia:Young–Laplace equation|Young-Laplace equation]], which relates the pressure difference across a curved liquid interface to its surface tension and curvature:

<math>\Delta p = \gamma \left( \frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2} \right)</math>

where <math>\Delta p</math> is the pressure difference across the interface, <math>\gamma</math> is the surface tension, and <math>R_1</math> and <math>R_2</math> are the principal radii of curvature of the surface. In microgravity, where body forces on a fluid are negligible, this capillary pressure term dominates fluid shape and behavior, which is precisely the regime the Surface Evolver software is designed to model.<ref name="se-wp">{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Evolver|title=Surface Evolver|website=Wikipedia|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref>

[[File:KC-135A NASA (16783001558).jpg|thumb|A NASA KC-135 reduced-gravity aircraft. Parabolic flights of this kind have historically been used by Purdue aerospace researchers to test low-gravity fluid behavior experimentally.]]

== Software and technology ==
μFluids@Home distributed [[wikipedia:Surface Evolver|Surface Evolver]] simulation runs to volunteers' computers via the standard BOINC client. [[wikipedia:Surface Evolver|Surface Evolver]] itself is an interactive finite-element program, originally written by Kenneth Brakke at [[wikipedia:The Geometry Center|The Geometry Center]] with support from the [[wikipedia:National Science Foundation|National Science Foundation]], that represents a surface as a union of triangular facets and evolves it toward minimal energy by a [[wikipedia:Gradient descent|gradient descent]] method.<ref name="se-wp" />

Per the project's own application notes, μFluids had no BOINC screensaver component. Individual work unit CPU times were generally less than 20 hours, and work units averaged around 500 kB in size. Because of the relatively small and infrequent nature of the work units compared to higher-profile projects, volunteers were advised that many work units would be needed to accumulate credit comparable to projects such as [[SETI@home]] or [[wikipedia:Climateprediction.net|climateprediction.net]].<ref name="wp" />

== Community ==
μFluids attracted small dedicated crunching teams on general-purpose BOINC community sites. The Australian technology community Whirlpool maintained a team page and statistics link for μFluids@Home participants,<ref name="whirlpool">{{Cite web|url=https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/ufluids|title=uFluids@home - BOINC Project|website=Whirlpool Wiki|access-date=2026-07-18}}</ref> and the project was tracked on the SETI.USA forums, where new volunteers reported joining μFluids alongside other contemporary BOINC projects into 2011.<ref name="setiusa" />

== Publications ==
The following papers, authored by researchers associated with Professor Collicott's group at Purdue, cover the capillary fluids and two-phase flow problems that μFluids@Home was built to help investigate:

# Manning, Robert and Steven Collicott. "[https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2010-1476 Liquid Plugs in Rectangular Channels Under a Transverse Gravity Field]". ''48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition'' (2010). DOI 10.2514/6.2010-1476.
# Braun, Jonathan and Steven Collicott. "[https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2006-732 Zero-Gravity Stability of Droplets in a Bent Circular Cylinder]". ''44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit'' (2006). DOI 10.2514/6.2006-732.
# Manning, Robert and Steven Collicott. "[https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2006-736 Bubble Penetration Through a Single Layer Sphere Bed]". ''44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit'' (2006). DOI 10.2514/6.2006-736.

[[File:Surface Tension 01.jpg|thumb|Surface tension shapes a liquid interface, the same physics that Surface Evolver models numerically and that μFluids@Home computed at scale.]]

== See also ==
* [[wikipedia:BOINC|BOINC]]
* [[SETI@home]]
* [[wikipedia:Surface Evolver|Surface Evolver]]
* [[wikipedia:Purdue University|Purdue University]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:BOINC projects]]
[[Category:Completed BOINC projects]]
[[Category:Purdue University]]

UFluids@Home - Revision history

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