Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Interactive Water Vortex Exhibit, Simon Way, Emily Laing, Roqaya Naseri, Makenzie Kan

Mechanical Engineering

The San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum requested an interactive water vortex exhibit to both engage and entertain inquisitive guests, ages two to eight. The goal was to design and manufacture an exhibit that would educate its users on the fluid mechanics behind water vortices. They activate the mechanics by spinning a wheel, which is perceived as the catalyst to manipulate the flow of water to successfully create a whirlpool. Our team has created an interactive display that will enlighten young minds, providing the museum with an educational exhibit which shares a concept not currently taught by any other. Our project …

Physically Based Rendering Techniques To Visualize Thin-Film Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Fluid Simulations, Aditya H. Prasad

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

This thesis introduces a methodology and workflow I developed to visualize smoothed hydrodynamic particle based simulations for the research paper ’Thin-Film Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Fluid’ (2021), that I co-authored. I introduce a physically based rendering model which allows point cloud simulation data representing thin film fluids and bubbles to be rendered in a photorealistic manner. This includes simulating the optic phenomenon of thin-film interference and rendering the resulting iridescent patterns. The key to the model lies in the implementation of a physically based surface shader that accounts for the interference of infinitely many internally reflected rays in its bidirectional surface …

Entry Of A Sphere Into A Water-Surfactant Mixture And The Effect Of A Bubble Layer, Nathan B. Spiers, Mohammad M. Mansoor, Randy Craig Hurd, Saberul I. Sharker, W. G. Robinson, B. J. Williams, Tadd T. Truscott

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A rigid sphere entering a liquid bath does not always produce an entrained air cavity. Previous experimental work shows that cavity formation, or the lack thereof, is governed by fluid properties, wetting properties of the sphere, and impact velocity. In this study, wetting steel spheres are dropped into a water-surfactant mixture with and without passing through a bubble layer first. Surprisingly, in the case of a water-surfactant mixture without a bubble layer, the critical velocity for cavity formation becomes radius dependent. This occurs due to dynamic surface tension effects, with the local surface tension in the splash increasing during surface …

Streamwise Flow-Induced Oscillations Of Bluff Bodies - The Influence Of Symmetry Breaking, Tyler Gurian

Masters Theses

The influence of symmetry breaking on the flow induced oscillations of bluff bodies in the steamwise direction is studied. First, a series of experiments is conducted on a one-degree-of-freedom circular cylinder allowed to exhibit pure translational motion in the streamwise direction over a range of reduced velocities, 1.4 < U* < 4.4, corresponding to a Reynolds number range of 970 < Re < 3370. Two distinct regions of displacements were observed in reduced velocity ranges of 1.6 < U* < 2.5 and 2.75 < U* < 3.85. Measured force coefficients in the drag and lift direction were examined, along with the wake visualization, through the range of reduced velocities, to infer the resulting wake modes. A new Alternating Symmetric (AS) mode was found. This transition from symmetric to AS shedding occurred near the end of the first region of response. Similar tests were run with a square prism in the parameter space of 2.4 < U* < 5.8 and 757 < Re < 1900 over angles of incidence of 0° ≤ α ≤ 45°. A distinct region of lock-in is observed for α = 0°, 2.5°, 5°, 7.5° over 3.2 < U* < 5.4 for α = 0°, and decreasing with increasing α. The wake structures were found to be roughly symmetric for α = 0°, but transitioned towards asymmetry …

Elementary Computational Fluid Dynamics Using Finite-Difference Methods, Jason Turner, Scott Labrake

Honors Theses

Fluids permeate all of human existence, and fluid dynamics serves as a rich field of research for many physicists. Although the mathematics involved in studying fluids tends to get complicated, the physical intuition gained through daily exposure to such systems bridges the gap between abstract calculations and their physical meaning. We discuss the mathematical treatment and simulations of fluid flows found in everyday life, such as flow in a cavity and through a pipe. Our discussions follow the example set by several notable texts, referenced in the document.

Dispersion Characteristics Of Non-Newtonian Fluid During Transportation Of Nanoparticles In Permeable Capillary, Rekha Bali, Nivedita Gupta, Swati Mishra

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The present analysis deals with the dispersion characteristics of blood described as Herschel- Bulkley fluid in capillary with permeable walls for fluid and impermeable for the nanoparticles. The contribution of molecular and convective diffusion is recalled from the Taylor and Aris coefficient of diffusion. The effective longitudinal diffusion depends on three parameters namely rheological parameter, pressure parameter, and the permeability parameter. We investigate the influence of the longitudinal transport of nanoparticles with permeable blood vessels on the effective dispersion. It shows that the effective diffusion of nanoparticles reduces with increase in radius of the plug region (i.e., the volume of …

Particle Swarms In Confining Geometries, Eric Robert Boomsma

Open Access Dissertations

The transport of micro- and nano-particles in subsurface fluid deposits is an area of increasing interest due to the rising use of these particles for consumer and industrial purposes. Subsurface particle transport is complicated by the presence of fractures and fracture networks which govern the paths that particles will be able to take. In this thesis, subsurface particle transport will be investigated using particle swarms; collections of hydro-dynamically interacting particles which exhibit group behavior. The effects of fluid viscosity, particle properties, fracture geometry, and fracture aperture on swarm behavior were experimentally investigated. ^ Swarm parameters were examined in time with …

Raman Scattering Study Of Phase Biaxiality In A Thermotropic Bent-Core Nematic Liquid Crystal, Min Sang Park, Beom-Kin Yoon, Jung Ok Park, Veena Prasad, Satyendra Kumar, Mohan Srinivasarao

Satyendra Kumar

Polarized Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the development of orientational order and the degree of phase biaxiality in a bent-core mesogenic system. The values of the uniaxial order parameters ⟨P200⟩ and ⟨P400⟩, and biaxial order parameters ⟨P220⟩, ⟨P420⟩, and ⟨P440⟩, and their evolution with temperature were determined. The temperature dependence of almost all order parameters reveals a second order transition from the uniaxial to biaxial nematic phase with ⟨P220⟩ increasing to ∼0.22 before a first order transition to the smectic-C phase, upon cooling.

One Order Parameter Tensor Mean Field Theory For Biaxial Liquid Crystals, Xiaoyu Zheng, Peter Palffy-Muhoray

Xiaoyu Zheng

In this paper, we present a simple one tensor mean field model of biaxial nematic liquid crystals. The salient feature of our approach is that material parameters appear explicitly in the order parameter tensor. We construct the free energy from a mean field potential based on anisotropic dispersion interactions, identify the order parameter tensor and its elements, and obtain self-consistent equations, which are then solved numerically. The results are illustrated in a 3D ternary phase diagram. The phase behavior can be simply related to molecular parameters. The results may be useful for designing molecules that show a thermotropic biaxial phase.

Biaxial Nematic Phase In Bent-Core Thermotropic Mesogens, Bharat R. Acharya, Andrew Primak, Satyendra Kumar

Satyendra Kumar

A biaxial nematic phase had been predicted with D_2h symmetry, wherein the mesogen’s long and short transverse axes are simultaneously aligned along the two orthogonal, primary and secondary directors, n and m, respectively. The unique low-angle x-ray diffraction patterns in the nematic phases exhibited by three rigid bent-core mesogens clearly reveal their biaxiality. The results of x-ray diffraction can be readily reproduced by ab initio calculations that explicitly include the bent-core shape in the form factor and assume short-range positional correlations.

Fully Coupled Fluid And Electrodynamic Modeling Of Plasmas: A Two-Fluid Isomorphism And A Strong Conservative Flux-Coupled Finite Volume Framework, Richard Joel Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations

Ideal and resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) have long served as the incumbent framework for modeling plasmas of engineering interest. However, new applications, such as hypersonic flight and propulsion, plasma propulsion, plasma instability in engineering devices, charge separation effects and electromagnetic wave interaction effects may demand a higher-fidelity physical model. For these cases, the two-fluid plasma model or its limiting case of a single bulk fluid, which results in a single-fluid coupled system of the Navier-Stokes and Maxwell equations, is necessary and permits a deeper physical study than the MHD framework. At present, major challenges are imposed on solving these physical models …

Computational Fluctuating Fluid Dynamics, Alejandro Garcia, J. B. Bell, S. Williams

Faculty Publications

This paper describes the extension of a recently developed numerical solver for the Landau-Lifshitz Navier-Stokes (LLNS) equations to binary mixtures in three dimensions. The LLNS equations incorporate thermal fluctuations into macroscopic hydrodynamics by using white-noise fluxes. These stochastic PDEs are more complicated in three dimensions due to the tensorial form of the correlations for the stochastic fluxes and in mixtures due to couplings of energy and concentration fluxes (e.g., Soret effect). We present various numerical tests of systems in and out of equilibrium, including time-dependent systems, and demonstrate good agreement with theoretical results and molecular simulation

Computational Fluctuating Fluid Dynamics, Alejandro Garcia, John B. Bell, Sarah Williams

Alejandro Garcia

This paper describes the extension of a recently developed numerical solver for the Landau-Lifshitz Navier-Stokes (LLNS) equations to binary mixtures in three dimensions. The LLNS equations incorporate thermal fluctuations into macroscopic hydrodynamics by using white-noise fluxes. These stochastic PDEs are more complicated in three dimensions due to the tensorial form of the correlations for the stochastic fluxes and in mixtures due to couplings of energy and concentration fluxes (e.g., Soret effect). We present various numerical tests of systems in and out of equilibrium, including time-dependent systems, and demonstrate good agreement with theoretical results and molecular simulation

Colloidal Micromotor In Smectic A Liquid Crystal Driven By Dc Electric Field, Antal Jakli, Bohdan Senyuk, Guangxun Liao, Oleg Lavrentovich

Antal Jakli

Converting linear stimulus to rotation has endless examples in virtually all scales of the universe. One of the interesting examples is Quincke rotation, a spinning rotation of a dielectric sphere neutrally buoyant in an isotropic fluid caused by a unidirectional DC electric field. Recently Quincke rotation has been reported in liquid crystalline (LC) phases, and it was noted that spinning triggers a translational motion normal to the electric field and the rotation axis. In this work, we explain the translation of spinning spheres as a result of hydrodynamic interaction with the bounding walls. We also describe a unique orbiting motion: …

The Microchannel Flow Of A Micropolar Fluid, Guohua Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Micro-channel flows have been computed to investigate the influence of Navier-Stokes formulation for the slip-flow boundary condition, and a micro-polar fluid model, respectively.

The results of the slip boundary condition show that the current methodology is valid for slip-flow regime (i.e., for values of Knudsen number less than approximately 0.1). Drag reduction phenomena apparent in some micro-channels can be explained by slip-flow theory. These results are in agreement with some computations and experiments.

An ad hoc micro-polar fluid model is developed to investigate the influence of micro effects, such as micro-gyration, in micro-scale flows. The foundation of the ad hoc …

A Simple Model For Nonequilibrium Fluctuations In A Fluid, Alejandro Garcia, F. Baras, M. Malek Mansour

Faculty Publications

Presents a train model that shows the long-range spatial correlations of fluctuations in nonequilibrium fluid systems. Illustration of model through analysis of flat-car trains running on parallel tracks; Simulation of train model in computers; Theoretical analysis for fluctuations in the train model; Relationship between train model and the fluctuating hydrodynamic theory of fluids.

A Simple Model For Nonequilibrium Fluctuations In A Fluid, Alejandro Garcia, F. Baras, M. Malek Mansour

Alejandro Garcia

Presents a train model that shows the long-range spatial correlations of fluctuations in nonequilibrium fluid systems. Illustration of model through analysis of flat-car trains running on parallel tracks; Simulation of train model in computers; Theoretical analysis for fluctuations in the train model; Relationship between train model and the fluctuating hydrodynamic theory of fluids.

Hydrodynamic Fluctuations In A Fluid Under Constant Shear, Alejandro Garcia, M. Malek Mansour, G. Lie, E. Clementi, M. Mareschal

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hydrodynamic Fluctuations In A Fluid Under Constant Shear, Alejandro Garcia, M. Malek Mansour, G. Lie, E. Clementi, M. Mareschal

Alejandro Garcia

No abstract provided.