146 research outputs found
Slippage of water past superhydrophobic carbon nanotube forests in microchannels
We present in this letter an experimental characterization of liquid flow
slippage over superhydrophobic surfaces made of carbon nanotube forests,
incorporated in microchannels. We make use of a micro-PIV (Particule Image
Velocimetry) technique to achieve the submicrometric resolution on the flow
profile necessary for accurate measurement of the surface hydrodynamic
properties. We demonstrate boundary slippage on the Cassie superhydrophobic
state, associated with slip lengths of a few microns, while a vanishing slip
length is found in the Wenzel state, when the liquid impregnates the surface.
Varying the lateral roughness scale L of our carbon nanotube forest-based
superhydrophobic surfaces, we demonstrate that the slip length varies linearly
with L in line with theoretical predictions for slippage on patterned surfaces.Comment: under revie
Fluctuations in viscous fingering
Our experiments on viscous (Saffman-Taylor) fingering in Hele-Shaw channels
reveal finger width fluctuations that were not observed in previous
experiments, which had lower aspect ratios and higher capillary numbers Ca.
These fluctuations intermittently narrow the finger from its expected width.
The magnitude of these fluctuations is described by a power law, Ca^{-0.64},
which holds for all aspect ratios studied up to the onset of tip instabilities.
Further, for large aspect ratios, the mean finger width exhibits a maximum as
Ca is decreased instead of the predicted monotonic increase.Comment: Revised introduction, smoothed transitions in paper body, and added a
few additional minor results. (Figures unchanged.) 4 pages, 3 figures.
Submitted to PRE Rapi
A planar surface acoustic wave micropump for closed-loop microfluidics
We have designed and characterized a simple Rayleigh-surface acoustic wave-based micropump, integrated directly with a fully enclosed 3D microfluidic system, which improves significantly the pumping efficiency within a coupled fluid whilst maintaining planar integration of the micropump and microfluidics. We achieve this by exploiting the Rayleigh-scattering angle of surface acoustic waves into pressure waves on contact with overlaid fluids, by designing a microfluidic channel aligned almost co-linearly with the launched pressure waves and by minimizing energy losses by reflections from, or absorption within, the channel walls. This allows the microfluidic system to remain fully enclosed—a pre-requisite for point-of-care applications—removing sources of possible contamination, whilst achieving pump efficiencies up to several orders of magnitude higher than previously reported, at low operating powers of 0.5 W
Reaction-diffusion dynamics: confrontation between theory and experiment in a microfluidic reactor
We confront, quantitatively, the theoretical description of the
reaction-diffusion of a second order reaction to experiment. The reaction at
work is \ca/CaGreen, and the reactor is a T-shaped microchannel, 10 m
deep, 200 m wide, and 2 cm long. The experimental measurements are
compared with the two-dimensional numerical simulation of the
reaction-diffusion equations. We find good agreement between theory and
experiment. From this study, one may propose a method of measurement of various
quantities, such as the kinetic rate of the reaction, in conditions yet
inaccessible to conventional methods
Giant slip lengths of a simple fluid at vibrating solid interfaces
It has been shown recently [PRL 102, 254503 (2009)] that in the plane-plane
configuration a mechanical resonator vibrating close to a rigid wall in a
simple fluid can be overdamped to a frozen regime. Here, by solving
analytically the Navier Stokes equations with partial slip boundary conditions
at the solid fluid interface, we develop a theoretical approach justifying and
extending these earlier findings. We show in particular that in the perfect
slip regime the above mentioned results are, in the plane-plane configuration,
very general and robust with respect to lever geometry considerations. We
compare the results with those obtained previously for the sphere moving
perpendicularly and close to a plane in a simple fluid and discuss in more
details the differences concerning the dependence of the friction forces with
the gap distance separating the moving object (i.e., plane or sphere) from the
fixed plane. Finally, we show that the submicron fluidic effect reported in the
reference above, and discussed further in the present work, can have dramatic
implications in the design of nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS).Comment: submitted to PRE (see also PRL 102, 254503 (2009)
Simulations of slip flow on nanobubble-laden surfaces
On microstructured hydrophobic surfaces, geometrical patterns may lead to the
appearance of a superhydrophobic state, where gas bubbles at the surface can
have a strong impact on the fluid flow along such surfaces. In particular, they
can strongly influence a detected slip at the surface. We present two-phase
lattice Boltzmann simulations of a flow over structured surfaces with attached
gas bubbles and demonstrate how the detected slip depends on the pattern
geometry, the bulk pressure, or the shear rate. Since a large slip leads to
reduced friction, our results allow to assist in the optimization of
microchannel flows for large throughput.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure
Crossover from Hydrodynamics to the Kinetic Regime in Confined Nanoflows
We present an experimental study of a confined nanoflow, which is generated
by a sphere oscillating in the proximity of a flat solid wall in a simple
fluid. Varying the oscillation frequency, the confining length scale and the
fluid mean free path over a broad range provides a detailed map of the flow. We
use this experimental map to construct a scaling function, which describes the
nanoflow in the entire parameter space, including both the hydrodynamic and the
kinetic regimes. Our scaling function unifies previous theories based on the
slip boundary condition and the effective viscosity
Transitions and Probes in Turbulent Helium
Previous analysis of a Paris turbulence experiment \cite{zoc94,tab95} shows a
transition at the Taylor Reynolds number \rel \approx 700. Here correlation
function data is analyzed which gives further evidence for this transition. It
is seen in both the power spectrum and in structure function measurements. Two
possible explanations may be offered for this observed transition: that it is
intrinsic to the turbulence flow in this closed box experiment or that it is an
effect of a change in the flow around the anemometer. We particularly examine a
pair of ``probe effects''. The first is a thermal boundary layer which does
exist about the probe and does limit the probe response, particularly at high
frequencies. Arguments based on simulations of the response and upon
observations of dissipation suggests that this effect is only crucial beyond
\rel\approx 2000. The second effect is produced by vortex shedding behind the
probe. This has been seen to produce a large modification in some of the power
spectra for large \rel. It might also complicate the interpretation of the
experimental results. However, there seems to be a remaining range of data for
\rel < 1300 uncomplicated by these effects, and which are thus suggestive of
an intrinsic transition.Comment: uuencoded .ps files. submitted to PRE. 12 figures are sent upon
request to jane wang ([email protected]
Quasi-stationary States of Two-Dimensional Electron Plasma Trapped in Magnetic Field
We have performed numerical simulations on a pure electron plasma system
under a strong magnetic field, in order to examine quasi-stationary states that
the system eventually evolves into. We use ring states as the initial states,
changing the width, and find that the system evolves into a vortex crystal
state from a thinner-ring state while a state with a single-peaked density
distribution is obtained from a thicker-ring initial state. For those
quasi-stationary states, density distribution and macroscopic observables are
defined on the basis of a coarse-grained density field. We compare our results
with experiments and some statistical theories, which include the
Gibbs-Boltzmann statistics, Tsallis statistics, the fluid entropy theory, and
the minimum enstrophy state. From some of those initial states, we obtain the
quasi-stationary states which are close to the minimum enstrophy state, but we
also find that the quasi-stationary states depend upon initial states, even if
the initial states have the same energy and angular momentum, which means the
ergodicity does not hold.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Mesoscopic modeling of a two-phase flow in the presence of boundaries: the Contact Angle
We present a mesoscopic model, based on the Boltzmann Equation, for the
interaction between a solid wall and a non-ideal fluid. We present an analytic
derivation of the contact angle in terms of the surface tension between the
liquid-gas, the liquid-solid and the gas-solid phases. We study the dependency
of the contact angle on the two free parameters of the model, which determine
the interaction between the fluid and the boundaries, i.e. the equivalent of
the wall density and of the wall-fluid potential in Molecular Dynamics studies.
We compare the analytical results obtained in the hydrodynamical limit for
the density profile and for the surface tension expression with the numerical
simulations. We compare also our two-phase approach with some exact results for
a pure hydrodynamical incompressible fluid based on Navier-Stokes equations
with boundary conditions made up of alternating slip and no-slip strips.
Finally, we show how to overcome some theoretical limitations connected with a
discretized Boltzmann scheme and we discuss the equivalence between the surface
tension defined in terms of the mechanical equilibrium and in terms of the
Maxwell construction.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure
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