Enhanced singular jet formation in oil-coated bubble bursting

Bubbles are ubiquitous in many natural and engineering processes, and bubble bursting aerosols are of particular interest because of their critical role in mass and momentum transfer across interfaces. All prior studies claim that bursting of a millimeter-sized bare bubble at an aqueous surface produces jet drops with a typical size of $\boldsymbol{O}$(100 \si{\micro\relax}m), much larger than film drops of $\boldsymbol{O}$(1 \si{\micro\relax}m) from the disintegration of a bubble cap. Here, we document the hitherto unknown phenomenon that jet drops can be as small as a few microns when the bursting bubble is coated by a thin oil layer. We provide evidence that the faster and smaller jet drops result from the singular dynamics of the oil-coated cavity collapse. The unique air-oil-water compound interface offers a distinct damping mechanism to smooth out the precursor capillary waves during cavity collapse, leading to a more efficient focusing of the dominant wave and thus allowing singular jets over a much wider parameter space beyond that of a bare bubble. We develop a theoretical explanation for the parameter limits of the singular jet regime by considering the interplay among inertia, surface tension, and viscous effects. As such contaminated bubbles are widely observed, the previously unrecognized fast and small contaminant-laden jet drops may enhance bubble-driven flux across the interface, contributing to the aerosolization and airborne transmission of bulk substances

Particle trapping in merging flow junctions by fluid-solute-colloid-boundary interactions

Merging of different streams in channel junctions represents a common mixing process that occurs in systems ranging from soda fountains and bathtub faucets to chemical plants and microfluidic devices. Here, we report a spontaneous trapping of colloidal particles in a merging flow junction when the merging streams have a salinity contrast. We show that the particle trapping is a consequence of nonequilibrium interactions between the particles, solutes, channel, and the freestream flow. A delicate balance of transport processes results in a stable near-wall vortex that traps the particles. We use three-dimensional particle visualization and numerical simulations to provide a rigorous understanding of the observed phenomenon. Such a trapping mechanism is unique from the well-known inertial trapping enabled by vortex breakdown [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111, 4770 (2014)], or the solute-mediated trapping enabled by diffusiophoresis [Phys..Rev. X 7, 041038 (2017)], as the current trapping is facilitated by both the solute and the inertial effects, suggesting a new mechanism for particle trapping in flow networks

Viscosity measurements of glycerol in a parallel-plate rheometer exposed to atmosphere

Glycerol is a hygroscopic fluid that spontaneously absorbs water vapor from the atmosphere. For applications involving glycerol, care must be taken to avoid exposure to humidity, since its viscosity decreases quickly as water is absorbed. We report experimental measurements of the viscosity of glycerol in a parallel-plate rheometer where the outer interface is exposed to atmosphere. The measurements decrease with time as water is absorbed from the atmosphere and transported throughout the glycerol via diffusion and advection. Measured viscosities drop faster at higher relative humidities, confirming the role of hygroscopicity on the transient viscosities. The rate of viscosity decrease shows a non-monotonic relationship with the rheometer gap height. This behavior is explained by considering the transition from diffusion-dominated transport in the narrow gap regime to the large gap regime where transport is dominated by inertia-driven secondary flows. Numerical simulations of the water absorption and transport confirm this non-monotonic behavior. The experimental viscosity measurements show unexpectedly fast decreases at very small gap heights, violating the parallel-plate, axisymmetric model. We propose that this drop-off may be due to misalignment in the rheometer that becomes non-negligible for small gaps. Theoretical considerations show that secondary flows in a misaligned rheometer dominate the typical secondary inertial flows in parallel-plate rheometers at small gaps. Finally, simulations in a misaligned parallel-plate system demonstrate the same sharp drop-off in viscosity measurements at small gap heights. This modeling can be used to estimate the gap height where misalignment effects dominate the transient glycerol viscosity measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figure

Coupling of vortex breakdown and stability in a swirling flow

Swirling flows are ubiquitous over a large range of length scales and applications including micron-scale microfluidic devices up to geophysical flows such as tornadoes. As the viscous dissipation, shear, and centrifugal stresses interact, such flows can often exhibit unexpected fluid dynamics. Here, we use microfluidic experiments and numerical simulations to study the flow in a vortex T-mixer: a T-shaped channel with staggered, offset inlets. The vortex T-mixer flow is characterized by a single dominant vortex, the stability of which is closely coupled to the appearance of vortex breakdown. Specifically, at a Reynolds number of Re≈90, a first vortex breakdown region appears in the steady-state solution, rendering the vortex pulsatively unstable. A second vortex breakdown region appears at Re≈120, which restabilizes the vortex. Finally, a third vortex breakdown region appears at Re≈180, which renders the vortex helically unstable. Thus, a counterintuitive flow regime exists for the vortex T-mixer in which increasing the Reynolds number has a stabilizing effect on the steady-state flow. The pulsatively unstable vortex evolves into a periodically pulsating state with a Strouhal number of St≈0.5, and the helically unstable vortex evolves into a helically oscillating state with St≈1.75. These transitions can be explained within the framework of linear hydrodynamic stability. In addition, the vortex T-mixer flow exhibits multistability; multiple flow states are stable over various ranges of Re, including a narrow range of tristability for 160≤Re≤170, in which the steady state, the pulsatile oscillation, and the helical oscillation are all stable. This study provides experimental and numerical evidence of the close coupling between vortex breakdown and flow stability, including the restabilization of the flow with increasing Reynolds number due to the appearance of a vortex breakdown region, which will provide new insights into how vortex breakdown can affect the stability of a swirling flow

Vortex-Breakdown-Induced Particle Capture in Branching Junctions

We show experimentally that a flow-induced, Reynolds number-dependent particle-capture mechanism in branching junctions can be enhanced or eliminated by varying the junction angle. In addition, numerical simulations are used to show that the features responsible for this capture have the signatures of classical vortex breakdown, including an approach flow aligned with the vortex axis and a pocket of subcriticality. We show how these recirculation regions originate and evolve and suggest a physical mechanism for their formation. Furthermore, comparing experiments and numerical simulations, the presence of vortex breakdown is found to be an excellent predictor of particle capture. These results inform the design of systems in which suspended particle accumulation can be eliminated or maximized

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 16

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Swirling flows with applications to energy and biology

This thesis explores the dynamics of flows with secondary swirling motions in a variety of systems using experiments, theoretical techniques, and direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations. The applications of this work include: (a) modeling flows in piping networks such as in systems of curved pipes or downstream of perturbations, (b) enhancing or eliminating a novel particle-capture mechanism in branching flows as well as capturing biomaterials and visualizing their shear-induced interactions, and (c) modeling the enhanced diffusiophoretic motion of suspended particles in one-dimensional solute gradients. The first part of this dissertation begins with a discussion of the downstream decay of fully developed flow in a curved pipe that exits into a straight outlet. Scaling arguments are developed, numerical simulations are used to quantify transition lengths, and an analogy is made to the flow in the downstream outlets of a T-junction flow. Later, these scaling arguments are extended to analytical solutions for the flow downstream of a weakly curved pipe at large Reynolds numbers. By appropriate linearizations of the Navier-Stokes equations in both cylindrical and toroidal coordinates, the developing flow in the entry region of a weakly curved pipe is shown to have the same analytical solution as the flow downstream of a curved pipe. Using a similar analytical approach, the flow in a cylindrical, straight pipe downstream of an arbitrary 3D perturbation is solved for both the Stokes flow and high-Reynolds-number limits. The second part of this dissertation identifies unique features and applications of the flow in a branching junction. Specifically, a flow-induced, Reynolds-number-dependent particle-capture mechanism is shown to originate from features resembling classical vortex breakdown. By varying the junction angle and Reynolds number, I show how this particle capture mechanism can be enhanced or eliminated, and I show how the recirculation regions responsible for capture originate and evolve. I utilize this capture phenomenon to produce giant unilamellar vesicles through shear-induced fusion, and demonstrate a platform for visualizing shear-induced biomaterial interactions in flow. In the final part of this dissertation, the diffusiophoretic motion of suspended colloidal particles under 1D solute gradients is solved using numerical and analytical techniques

Point-source imbibition into dry aqueous foams

International audienceWe use experiments, modeling and numerics to study the imbibition dynamics from a point source into a homogeneous dry aqueous foam. A distinctive feature of foams compared to solid porous material is that imbibition occurs in the liquid microchannels of the foam called Plateau borders, which have a volume varying in space and time. Dynamics is driven by the capillary pressure and resisted by the viscous and gravity forces in the liquid microchannels. Assuming a constant pressure in the imbibing liquid reservoir, we show that the imbibition front advances and flattens out in time due to gravity, the effect of which is quantified by introducing the Bond number B, which compares the gravitational effects to the capillary pressure using the mean bubble radius as the characteristic length. This evolution describes both miscible and immiscible imbibing liquids. For the latter, we introduce the idea of an effective interfacial tension γ eff to take the oil-water interfacial energy into account. The details of the imbibition process are confirmed by experiments and numerics using foams with tangentially immobile interfaces in the channel-dominated model

Approximate streamsurfaces for flow visualization

Instantaneous features of three-dimensional velocity fields are most directly visualized via streamsurfaces. It is generally unclear, however, which streamsurfaces one should pick for this purpose, given that infinitely many such surfaces pass through each point of the flow domain. Exceptions to this rule are vector fields with a non-degenerate first integral whose level surfaces globally define a continuous, one-parameter family of streamsurfaces. While generic vector fields have no first integrals, their vortical regions may admit local first integrals over a discrete set of streamtubes, as Hamiltonian systems are known to do over Cantor sets of invariant tori. Here we introduce a method to construct such first integrals approximately from velocity data, and show that their level sets indeed frame vortical features of the velocity field in examples in which those features are known from Lagrangian analysis. Moreover, we test our method in numerical datasets, including a flow inside a V-junction and a turbulent channel flow. For the latter, we propound an algorithm to pin down the most salient barriers to momentum transport up to a given scale providing a way out of the occlusion conundrum that typically accompanies other vortex visualization methods.ISSN:0022-1120ISSN:1469-764