Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Bistability In A Simple Fluid Network Due To Viscosity Contrast, John Geddes, Brian Storey, David Gardner, Russell Carr

Brian Storey

We study the existence of multiple equilibrium states in a simple fluid network using Newtonian fluids and laminar flow. We demonstrate theoretically the presence of hysteresis and bistability, and we confirm these predictions in an experiment using two miscible fluids of different viscosity—sucrose solution and water. Possible applications include blood flow, microfluidics, and other network flows governed by similar principles.