36 research outputs found
Molecular dynamics simulations of oscillatory Couette flows with slip boundary conditions
The effect of interfacial slip on steady-state and time-periodic flows of
monatomic liquids is investigated using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics
simulations. The fluid phase is confined between atomically smooth rigid walls,
and the fluid flows are induced by moving one of the walls. In steady shear
flows, the slip length increases almost linearly with shear rate. We found that
the velocity profiles in oscillatory flows are well described by the Stokes
flow solution with the slip length that depends on the local shear rate.
Interestingly, the rate dependence of the slip length obtained in steady shear
flows is recovered when the slip length in oscillatory flows is plotted as a
function of the local shear rate magnitude. For both types of flows, the
friction coefficient at the liquid-solid interface correlates well with the
structure of the first fluid layer near the solid wall.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figure
Diffusion of a Janus nanoparticle in an explicit solvent: A molecular dynamics simulation study
Molecular dynamics simulations are carried out to study the translational and
rotational diffusion of a single Janus particle immersed in a dense
Lennard-Jones fluid. We consider a spherical particle with two hemispheres of
different wettability. The analysis of the particle dynamics is based on the
time-dependent orientation tensor, particle displacement, as well as the
translational and angular velocity autocorrelation functions. It was found that
both translational and rotational diffusion coefficients increase with
decreasing surface energy at the nonwetting hemisphere, provided that the
wettability of the other hemisphere remains unchanged. We also observed that in
contrast to homogeneous particles, the nonwetting hemisphere of the Janus
particle tends to rotate in the direction of the displacement vector during the
rotational relaxation time.Comment: Web reference added for
animations:http://www.wright.edu/~nikolai.priezjev/janus/janus.htm
Slip boundary conditions for shear flow of polymer melts past atomically flat surfaces
Molecular dynamics simulations are carried out to investigate the dynamic
behavior of the slip length in thin polymer films confined between atomically
smooth thermal surfaces. For weak wall-fluid interactions, the shear rate
dependence of the slip length acquires a distinct local minimum followed by a
rapid growth at higher shear rates. With increasing fluid density, the position
of the local minimum is shifted to lower shear rates. We found that the ratio
of the shear viscosity to the slip length, which defines the friction
coefficient at the liquid/solid interface, undergoes a transition from a nearly
constant value to the power law decay as a function of the slip velocity. In a
wide range of shear rates and fluid densities, the friction coefficient is
determined by the product of the value of surface induced peak in the structure
factor and the contact density of the first fluid layer near the solid wall.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figure
Cluster Monte Carlo Simulations of the Nematic--Isotropic Transition
We report the results of simulations of the Lebwohl-Lasher model of the
nematic-isotropic transition using a new cluster Monte Carlo algorithm. The
algorithm is a modification of the Wolff algorithm for spin systems, and
greatly reduces critical slowing down. We calculate the free energy in the
neighborhood of the transition for systems up to linear size 70. We find a
double well structure with a barrier that grows with increasing system size,
obeying finite size scaling for systems of size greater than 35. We thus obtain
an estimate of the value of the transition temperature in the thermodynamic
limit.Comment: 4 figure
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Flow-induced dynamic surface tension effects at nanoscale
The aim of this study is to investigate flow-induced dynamic surface tension effects, similar to the well-known Marangoni phenomena, but solely generated by the nanoscale topography of the substrates. The flow-induced surface tension effects are examined on the basis of a sharp interface theory. It is demonstrated how nanoscale objects placed at the boundary of the flow domain result in the generation of substantial surface forces acting on the bulk flow
Relaxation of surface tension in the liquid-solid interfaces of Lennard-Jones liquids
We have established the surface tension relaxation time in the liquid-solid interfaces of Lennard-Jones (LJ) liquids by means of direct measurements in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The main result is that the relaxation time is found to be almost independent of the molecular structures and viscosity of the liquids (at seventy-fold change) used in our study and lies in such a range that in slow hydrodynamic motion the interfaces are expected to be at equilibrium. The implications of our results for the modelling of dynamic wetting processes and interpretation of dynamic contact angle data are discussed
Lattice Boltzmann simulations in microfluidics: probing the no-slip boundary condition in hydrophobic, rough, and surface nanobubble laden microchannels
In this contribution we review recent efforts on investigations of the effect
of (apparent) boundary slip by utilizing lattice Boltzmann simulations. We
demonstrate the applicability of the method to treat fundamental questions in
microfluidics by investigating fluid flow in hydrophobic and rough
microchannels as well as over surfaces covered by nano- or microscale gas
bubbles.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Non-Isothermal Model for Nematic Spherulite Growth
A computational study of the growth of two-dimensional nematic spherulites in
an isotropic phase was performed using a Landau-de Gennes type quadrupolar
ensor order parameter model for the first-order isotropic/nematic transition of
5CB (pentyl-cyanobiphenyl). An energy balance, taking anisotropy into account,
was derived and incorporated into the time-dependent model. Growth laws were
determined for two different spherulite morphologies of the form tn, with and
without the inclusion of thermal effects. Results show that incorporation of
the thermal energy balance correctly predicts the transition of the growth law
exponent from the volume driven regime (n=1) to the thermally limited regime
(approaching n=0.5), agreeing well with experimental observations. An
interfacial nemato-dynamic model is used to gain insight into the interactions
that result in the progression of different spherulite growth regimes
The Geometry of Soft Materials: A Primer
We present an overview of the differential geometry of curves and surfaces
using examples from soft matter as illustrations. The presentation requires a
background only in vector calculus and is otherwise self-contained.Comment: 45 pages, RevTeX, 12 eps figure