Alice B. Thompson

Stabilising falling liquid film flows using feedback control

Falling liquid films become unstable due to inertial effects when the fluid layer is sufficiently thick or the slope sufficiently steep. This free surface flow of a single fluid layer has industrial applications including coating and heat transfer, which benefit from smooth and wavy interfaces, respectively. Here, we discuss how the dynamics of the system are altered by feedback controls based on observations of the interface height, and supplied to the system via the perpendicular injection and suction of fluid through the wall. In this study, we model the system using both Benney and weighted-residual models that account for the fluid injection through the wall. We find that feedback using injection and suction is a remarkably effective control mechanism: the controls can be used to drive the system towards arbitrary steady states and travelling waves, and the qualitative effects are independent of the details of the flow modelling. Furthermore, we show that the system can still be successfully controlled when the feedback is applied via a set of localised actuators and only a small number of system observations are available, and that this is possible using both static (where the controls are based on only the most recent set of observations) and dynamic (where the controls are based on an approximation of the system which evolves over time) control schemes. This study thus provides a solid theoretical foundation for future experimental realisations of the active feedback control of falling liquid films.

Shape and stability of axisymmetric levitated viscous drops

We consider levitation of an axisymmetric drop of molten glass above a spherical porous mould through which air is injected at a constant velocity. Owing to the viscosity contrast, the float height for a given shape is established on a much shorter time scale than the subsequent deformation of the drop under gravity, surface tension and the underlying lubrication pressure. Equilibrium shapes, in which an internal hydrostatic pressure is coupled to the external lubrication pressure through the total curvature and the Young–Laplace equation, are determined using a numerical continuation scheme. The set of solution branches is surprisingly complicated and shows a rich bifurcation structure in the parameter space ( Bo =ρ g V 2/3 /γ, Ca =μ a v /γ), where Bo is bond number and Ca is capillary number, ρ and V are the drop density and volume, γ the surface tension, μ a the air viscosity and v the injection velocity. The linear stability of equilibria is determined using a boundary-integral representation for drop deformation that factors out the rapid vertical adjustment of the float height. The results give good agreement with time-dependent simulations. For sufficiently large Ca there are intervals of Bo for which there are no stable solutions and, as Ca increases, these intervals grow and merge. The region of stability decreases as the mould radius a M increases with an approximate scaling Ca ~ a M −5 , which imposes practical limitations on the use of this geometry for the manufacture of lenses.

Torsional oscillations of a sphere in a Stokes flow

The results of an experimental investigation into a sphere performing torsional oscillations in a Stokes flow are presented. A novel experimental set-up was developed, which enabled the motion of the sphere to be remotely controlled through application of an oscillatory magnetic field. The response of the sphere to the applied field was characterised in terms of the viscous, magnetic and gravitational torques acting on the sphere. A mathematical model of the system was developed, and good agreement was found between experimental, numerical and theoretical results. The flow resulting from the motion of the sphere was measured, and the fluid velocity was found to have an inverse square dependence on radial distance from the sphere. The good agreement between measurements and the analytical solutions for both fluid velocity and angular displacement of the sphere indicates that the flow may be considered Stokesian, thus providing an excellent basis for experimental and theoretical characterisation of hydrodynamic interactions between multiple oscillating spheres at low Reynolds number.

Falling liquid films with blowing and suction

Flow of a thin viscous film down a flat inclined plane becomes unstable to long wave interfacial fluctuations when the Reynolds number based on the mean film thickness becomes larger than a critical value (this value decreases as the angle of inclination with the horizontal increases, and in particular becomes zero when the plate is vertical). Control of these interfacial instabilities is relevant to a wide range of industrial applications including coating processes and heat or mass transfer systems. This study considers the effect of blowing and suction through the substrate in order to construct from first principles physically realistic models that can be used for detailed passive and active control studies of direct relevance to possible experiments. Two different long-wave, thin-film equations are derived to describe this system; these include the imposed blowing/suction as well as inertia, surface tension, gravity and viscosity. The case of spatially periodic blowing and suction is considered in detail and the bifurcation structure of forced steady states is explored numerically to predict that steady states cease to exist for sufficiently large suction speeds since the film locally thins to zero thickness giving way to dry patches on the substrate. The linear stability of the resulting nonuniform steady states is investigated for perturbations of arbitrary wavelengths, and any instabilities are followed into the fully nonlinear regime using time-dependent computations. The case of small amplitude blowing/suction is studied analytically both for steady states and their stability. Finally, the transition between travelling waves and non-uniform steady states is explored as the suction amplitude increases.

Bubble propagation in Hele-Shaw channels with centred constrictions

We study the propagation of finite bubbles in a Hele-Shaw channel, where a centred occlusion (termed a rail) is introduced to provide a small axially-uniform depth constriction. For bubbles wide enough to span the channel, the systems behaviour is similar to that of semi-infinite fingers and a symmetric static solution is stable. Here, we focus on smaller bubbles, in which case the symmetric static solution is unstable and the static bubble is displaced towards one of the deeper regions of the channel on either side of the rail. Using a combination of experiments and numerical simulations of a depth-averaged model, we show that a bubble propagating axially due to a small imposed flow rate can be stabilised in a steady symmetric mode centred on the rail through a subtle interaction between stabilising viscous forces and destabilising surface tension forces. However, for sufficiently large capillary numbers Ca, the ratio of viscous to surface tension forces, viscous forces in turn become destabilising thus returning the bubble to an off-centred propagation regime. With decreasing bubble size, the range of Ca for which steady centred propagation is stable decreases, and eventually vanishes through the coalescence of two supercritical pitchfork bifurcations. The depth-averaged model is found to accurately predict all the steady modes of propagation observed experimentally, and provides a comprehensive picture of the underlying steady bifurcation structure. However, for sufficiently large imposed flow rates, we find that initially centred bubbles do not converge onto a steady mode of propagation. Instead they transiently explore weakly unstable steady modes, an evolution which results in their break-up and eventual settling into a steady propagating state of changed topology.

Bubble propagation on a rail: a concept for sorting bubbles by size

We demonstrate experimentally that the introduction of a rail, a small height constriction, within the cross-section of a rectangular channel could be used as a robust passive sorting device in two-phase fluid flows. Single air bubbles carried within silicone oil are generally transported on one side of the rail. However, for flow rates marginally larger than a critical value, a narrow band of bubble sizes can propagate (stably) over the rail, while bubbles of other sizes segregate to the side of the rail. The width of this band of bubble sizes increases with flow rate and the size of the most stable bubble can be tuned by varying the rail width. We present a complementary theoretical analysis based on a depth-averaged theory, which is in qualitative agreement with the experiments. The theoretical study reveals that the mechanism relies on a non-trivial interaction between capillary and viscous forces that is fully dynamic, rather than being a simple modification of capillary static solutions.