Double-light-sheet, Consecutive-overlapping Particle Image Velocimetry for the Study of Boundary Layers past Opaque Objects

Investigation of external flows past arbitrary objects requires access to the information in the boundary layer and the inviscid flow to paint a full picture of their characteristics. However, in laser diagnostic techniques such as particle image velocimetry (PIV), limitations like the size of the sample, field of view and magnification of the camera, and the size of the area of interest restrict access to some or part of this information. Here, we present a variation on the two-dimensional, two-component (2D-2C) PIV to access flows past samples larger than the field of view of the camera. We introduce an optical setup to use one laser to create a double-light-sheet illumination to access both sides of a non-transparent sample and employ a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) carrier to move the camera in consecutive-overlapping steps to perform the measurements. As a case study, we demonstrate the capability of this approach in the study of the boundary layer over a finite-size slender plate. We discuss how access to micro-scale details of a macro-scale flow can be used to explore the local behavior of the flow in terms of velocity profiles and the shear stress distribution. The boundary layers are not fully captured by the Blasius theory and are affected by a distribution of pressure gradient which in comparison results in regions of more attached or detached profiles. Ultimately, we show that the measurements can also be used to investigate the forces experienced by the body and decompose their effects into different components

Impact of bio-inspired V-formation on flow past arrangements of non-lifting objects

Inspired by the energy-saving character of group motion, great interest is directed toward the design of efficient swarming strategies for groups of unmanned aerial/underwater vehicles. While most of the current research on drone swarms addresses controls, communication, and mission planning, less effort is put toward understanding the physics of the flow around the members of the group. Currently, a large variety of drones and underwater vehicles consist of non-lifting frames for which the available formation flight strategies based on lift-induced upwash are not readily applicable. Here, we explore the V-formations of non-lifting objects and discuss how such a configuration alters the flow field around each member of the array compared to a solo flyer and how these changes in flow physics affect the drag force experienced by each member. Our measurements are made in a water tunnel using a multi-illumination particle image velocimetry technique where we find that in formations with an overlap in streamwise projections of the members, all the members experience a significant reduction in drag, with some members seeing as much as 45% drag reduction. These findings are instrumental in developing generalized energy-saving swarming strategies for aerial and underwater vehicles irrespective of the body shapes

The Intimate Relationship between Cavitation and Fracture

Nearly three decades ago, the field of mechanics was cautioned of the obscure nature of cavitation processes in soft materials [Gent, A.N., 1990. Cavitation in rubber: a cautionary tale. Rubber Chemistry and Technology, 63(3)]. Since then, the debate on the mechanisms that drive this failure process is ongoing. Using a high precision volume controlled cavity expansion procedure, this paper reveals the intimate relationship between cavitation and fracture. Combining a Griffith inspired formulation for crack propagation, and a Gent inspired formulation for cavity expansion, we show that despite the apparent complexity of the fracture patterns, the pressure-volume response follows a predictable path. In contrast to available studies, both the model and our experiments are able to track the entire process including the unstable branch, by controlling the volume of the cavity. Moreover, this minimal theoretical framework is able to explain the ambiguity in previous experiments by revealing the presence of metastable states that can lead to first order transitions at onset of fracture. The agreement between the simple theory and all of the experimental results conducted in PDMS samples with shear moduli in the range of 25-246 [kPa], confirms that cavitation and fracture work together in driving the expansion process. Through this study we also determine the fracture energy of PDMS and show its significant dependence on strain stiffening

Mechanics of Graded Wrinkling

The properties and behavior of a surface as well as its interaction with surrounding media depend on the inherent material constituency and the surface topography. Structured surface topography can be achieved via surface wrinkling. Through the buckling of a thin film of stiff material bonded to a substrate of a softer material, wrinkled patterns can be created by inducing compressive stress states in the thin film. Using this same principle, we show the ability to create wrinkled topologies consisting of a highly structured gradient in amplitude and wavelength, and one which can be actively tuned. The mechanics of graded wrinkling are revealed through analytical modeling and finite element analysis, and further demonstrated with experiments.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

Mechanics of graded wrinkling

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.The properties of a surface depend on the inherent material and the surface topography. Nature uses surface texture as a means to impact different surface behavior such as cleanliness, adhesion control, drag reduction, etc. As one way to mimic nature to obtain particular surface properties, different methods have been used to alter surface topography including surface wrinkling. Through buckling of a thin film of stiff material bonded to a substrate of a softer material, wrinkled patterns can be created by inducing compressive stress in the thin film. Using this same principle, changing the geometry of the surface or other means of creating a gradient in the stress distribution along the film, a gradient in the wrinkle topography can be created. The graded wrinkles possess varying amplitudes and wave lengths along the length of the film. In this work, the mechanics of graded wrinkling are first investigated through analytical modeling. Then, using finite element analysis, different aspects of graded wrinkling such as the wrinkle profile, stress and strain distributions are explored. Afterwards, different methods for creating wrinkled surfaces are introduced. In this work, the method of mechanical stretch and release is used for creating the wrinkled surfaces. PDMS sheets were prepared and coated with a stiff polymer using the method of initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition. The results of the graded wrinkling experiments are then presented and the trends are compared with the trends found through the finite element analysis.by Shabnam Raayai Ardakani.S.M

Geometry mediated drag reduction using riblets and wrinkled surface textures

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2018.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-291).The surfaces of many plants and animals are covered with a variety of micro-textures such as ribs or 3D tubules which can control surface-mediated properties such as skin friction. Inspired by the drag reducing ability of these natural structures, especially the ribbed features on shark denticles, passive drag reduction strategies such as micro-fabricated riblet surfaces have been developed and studied. Microgroove textures on the surface of objects such as hulls, wings or inner surface of pipes which are aligned in the stream-wise direction have been shown to reduce the wall friction by 4 - 8%. The mechanisms suggested for this form of drag reduction are viscous retardation of the flow in the grooves (both laminar and turbulent) and the displacement of vortical structures away from the wall in turbulent flows. Due to their effectiveness in altering the boundary layer structure and reducing the viscous drag force, use of riblets have been banned in various competitions such as the America's Cup. The current thesis work is partly focused on theoretical and numerical modelling (using the open source CFD package OpenFOAM) of the evolution of viscous boundary layers in the presence of various-shaped riblets (V-grooves as well as sinusoidal wrinkled surfaces) in high Reynolds laminar flow. We explore the effect of the dimensionless height to spacing of the grooves (aspect ratio) as well as the length of the wetted surface in the streamwise direction and how these change the total drag compared with a corresponding flat wall. We show that riblets retard the viscous flow inside the grooves and reduce the shear stress inside the grooves. But for this reduction to result in overall drag reduction, the riblet wall needs to be longer than a critical length. The total drag reduction achieved is a non-monotonic function of the aspect ratio of the riblets, with aspect ratios of order unity offering the largest reduction in the total drag. To eliminate the role of entrance effects, we additionally investigate the effect of stream-wise aligned riblet structures on fully-developed Taylor-Couette flow. We perform both experimental studies as well as time-dependent numerical simulations in both the laminar Couette and the Taylor vortex regime. We again explore the effect of the size of the riblets with respect to the geometry of the Taylor-Couette cell, as well as the aspect ratio of the riblet grooves and the shape of the grooves (V-groove, Rectangular, semi-circular, etc.). For the experiments, the cylindrical textured rotors are fabricated using 3D printing techniques and the rest of the Taylor-Couette cell is custom built using CNC machining. The test cell is then aligned and mounted on a stress-controlled rheometer to measure the velocity and the torque on the rotating inner cylinder. The numerical studies are performed using the open source CFD software package OpenFOAM to compare results and understand the physical mechanisms contributing to this drag reduction phenomenon. Again we observe a non-monotonic behavior for the reduction in torque as a function of the aspect ratio of the riblets tested, similar to the trend observed in the boundary layer analysis and we discuss the effect of changing the geometry of the flow as well as the riblet spacing on the changes in the total torque. When viewed holistically the results of these two studies show that, through careful design, a net reduction in viscous drag force can be robustly realized on micro-textured surfaces in high Reynolds number laminar flows through complex changes in near-wall stream-wise velocity profiles even in the absence of turbulent effects. The understanding of these changes can be effective in guiding the design of internal flows (pipes or ducts) and external flows (such as ship hulls, micro air vehicles or unmanned underwater vehicles) that are tailored and optimized to result in low frictional drag over the entire wetted surface in both laminar and turbulent regions.by Shabnam Raayai Ardakani.Ph. D

Capturing strain stiffening using Volume Controlled Cavity Expansion

Strain-stiffening is a well-documented behavior in soft biological materials such as liver and brain tissue. Measuring and characterizing this nonlinear response, which is commonly considered as a mechanism for damage prevention, is of great interest to engineers for design of better biomimetic materials, and to physicians for diagnostic purposes. However, probing the elastic response of soft or biological materials at large deformation in their natural habitat, is an arduous task. Here, we present the Volume Controlled Cavity Expansion (VCCE) technique as a measurement method that offers the ability of characterizing the local stiffening response of materials in addition to identifying their shear modulus. By employing minimal constitutive representations involving only two constants (Mooney–Rivlin, Gent, and Ogden) we show that for the conventional PDMS samples, this technique and an accompanying data analysis method capture the shear modulus, as well as providing reliable measures of the stiffening behavior of the samples

Drag reduction using wrinkled surfaces in high Reynolds number laminar boundary layer flows

Inspired by the design of the ribbed structure of shark skin, passive drag reduction methods using stream-wise riblet surfaces have previously been developed and tested over a wide range of flow conditions. Such textures aligned in the flow direction have been shown to be able to reduce skin friction drag by 4%-8%. Here, we explore the effects of periodic sinusoidal riblet surfaces aligned in the flow direction (also known as a "wrinkled" texture) on the evolution of a laminar boundary layer flow. Using numerical analysis with the open source Computational Fluid Dynamics solver OpenFOAM, boundary layer flow over sinusoidal wrinkled plates with a range of wavelength to plate length ratios (λ/L), aspect ratios (2A/λ), and inlet velocities are examined. It is shown that in the laminar boundary layer regime, the riblets are able to retard the viscous flow inside the grooves creating a cushion of stagnant fluid that the high-speed fluid above can partially slide over, thus reducing the shear stress inside the grooves and the total integrated viscous drag force on the plate. Additionally, we explore how the boundary layer thickness, local average shear stress distribution, and total drag force on the wrinkled plate vary with the aspect ratio of the riblets as well as the length of the plate. We show that riblets with an aspect ratio of close to unity lead to the highest reduction in the total drag, and that because of the interplay between the local stress distribution on the plate and stream-wise evolution of the boundary layer the plate has to exceed a critical length to give a net decrease in the total drag force

Geometry mediated friction reduction in Taylor-Couette flow

© 2020 American Physical Society. Periodic surface microtextures of different shapes such as V grooves, semicircular grooves, or rectangular grooves have been studied under laminar and turbulent flow conditions to offer guides for designing optimized low-friction surfaces. In this work we investigate the efficacy of periodic streamwise-aligned surface features in reducing the torque exerted on a steadily rotating cylinder in Taylor-Couette flow. Using three-dimensional printed riblet-textured rotors and a bespoke Taylor-Couette cell, which can be mounted on a controlled stress rheometer, we measure the evolution in the torque acting on the inner rotor as a function of three different dimensionless parameters: (i) the Reynolds number characterizing the flow, (ii) the sharpness of the riblets, as defined by their aspect ratio (height to wavelength), and (iii) the axial scale of the riblets with respect to the size of the overall Taylor-Couette cell (the ratio of the riblet wavelength to the gap of the Taylor-Couette cell). Our experimental results in the laminar viscous flow regime show a reduction in torque up to 10% over a wide range of Reynolds numbers that is a nonmonotonic function of the aspect ratio of the grooves and independent of Red (the gap-based Reynolds number). However, after the transition to the Taylor vortex regime, the modification in torque also becomes a function of the Reynolds number while remaining a nonmonotonic function of the aspect ratio. Using finite-volume simulation of the three-dimensional swirling flow in the annular gap, we discuss the kinematic changes to the Taylor-Couette flow in the presence of the riblets compared to the case of smooth rotors and compute the resulting torque reduction as a function of the parameter space defined above. Good agreement between experiments and computational predictions is found for both azimuthal Couette flow and the Taylor vortex regime