François Caton

Dispersion mechanisms in a street canyon

In this article, we investigate experimentally and analytically the dispersion mechanisms of a passive tracer in a two-dimensional model of a street canyon. The principal concern is the concentration transfer between the street and the external flow. In contrast to previous studies, the mass fluxes are not only inferred from mean concentration measurements but also directly measured thanks to a Particle Tracking Velocimetry technique. Visualizations of the evolution of the concentration field show the role of the shear layer at the top of the street canyon. Analytical transfer and dispersion models are derived, demonstrating the importance of external turbulence properties on the transfer. Those models are in excellent agreement with the measurements. The results presented in this article strongly suggest that the transfer in a street canyon does depend on the structure of the incoming turbulence, i.e. on the local stability conditions and on the upwind buildings.

Nanostructure of the Fibrin Clot

The nanostructure of the fibrin fibers in fibrin clots is investigated by using spectrometry and small angle x-ray scattering measurements. First, an autocoherent analysis of the visible light spectra transmitted through formed clots is demonstrated to provide robust measurements of both the radius and density of the fibrin fibers. This method is validated via comparison with existing small-angle and dynamic light-scattering data. The complementary use of small angle x-ray scattering spectra and light spectrometry unambiguously shows the disjointed nature of the fibrin fibers. Indeed, under quasiphysiological conditions, the fibers are approximately one-half as dense as their crystalline fiber counterparts. Further, although the fibers are locally crystalline, they appear to possess a lateral fractal structure.

Size determination by use of two-dimensional Mueller matrices backscattered by optically thick random media

Here we are concerned with the systematic study of polarized light transport in thick, isotropic, homogeneous random media and of the associated inverse problem. An original spatial and intensity rescaling of the polarization transport allows one to account implicitly for the volume fraction. This parameter elimination permits a complete exploration, by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the dependence of polarized light transport on microscopic parameters. Analysis of the Mueller matrices obtained from the simulations show that additional correlations (with respect to scalar transport) are obtained between the microscopic parameters and the spatial distribution of specific elements of the Mueller matrix. As a consequence, using carefully chosen polarization states, one can determine an average particle size independently of the volume fraction of particles, with only the knowledge of the refractive-index ratio being required. This analysis is validated with experimental Mueller matrices obtained for emulsions of various size, concentration, and polydispersity.

Stability and bifurcations in stratified Taylor–Couette flow

In this article we present new experimental and theoretical results which were obtained for the flow between two concentric cylinders, with the inner one rotating and in the presence of an axial, stable density stratification. This system is characterized by two control parameters: one destabilizing, the rotation rate of the inner cylinder; and the other stabilizing, the stratification. Two oscillatory linear stability analyses assuming axisymmetric flow conditions are presented. First an eigenmode linear stability analysis is performed, using the small-gap approximation. The solutions obtained give insight into the instability mechanisms and indicate the existence of a confined internal gravity wave mode at the onset of instability. In the second stability analysis, only diffusion is neglected, predicting accurately the instability threshold as well as the critical pulsation for all the stratifications used in the experiments. Experiments show that the basic, purely azimuthal flow (circular Couette flow) is destabilized through a supercritical Hopf bifurcation to an oscillatory flow of confined internal gravity waves, in excellent agreement with the linear stability analysis. The secondary bifurcation, which takes the system to a pattern of drifting non-axisymmetric vortices, is a saddle-node bifurcation. The proposed bifurcation diagram shows a global bifurcation, and explains the discrepancies between previous experimental and numerical results. For slightly larger values of the rotation rate, weakly turbulent spectra are obtained, indicating an early appearance of weak turbulence: stationary structures and defects coexist. Moreover, in this regime, there is a large distribution of structure sizes. Visualizations of the next regime exhibit constant-wavelength structures and fluid exchange between neighbouring cells, similar to wavy vortices. Their existence is explained by a simple energy argument. The generalization of the bifurcation diagram to hydrodynamic systems with one destabilizing and one stabilizing control parameter is discussed. A qualitative argument is derived to discriminate between oscillatory and stationary onset of instability in the general case.

Antithrombin-Independent Effects of Heparins on Fibrin Clot Nanostructure

Objective—Because of the widespread clinical use of heparins, their effects on the enzymatic cascade are very well known. In contrast, little is known about the direct effect of heparins on the nanostructure of fibrin fibers, even though this nanostructure plays a major role in the mechanical strength and lysis of clots. This lack of reliable data can be correlated with the lack of a nonintrusive, quantitative method to determine this structure. We recently developed such a method that allows the simultaneous determination of the average fiber radius and the protein content using spectrometric data. In this study, we assessed the nanostructure of fibrin in a system composed of human thrombin and fibrinogen. Methods and Results—We provide quantitative evidence showing that both unfractionated heparin and low molecular weight heparin directly alter the nanostructure of fibrin fibers independent of their other actions on the coagulation cascade; as expected, the pentasaccharide fondaparinux has no effect. Conclusion—Our results show that in addition to the effect of heparin on the coagulation cascade, modifications of the fibrin nanostructure may also contribute to improved fibrinolysis.

Results from Three Field Tracer Experiments on the Neighbourhood Scale in the City of Birmingham UK

The physical processes governing flow and pollutantdispersion at the neighbourhood scale, a spatial scaleintermediate between the street scale and the city scale, is notwell understood. Furthermore, it is not clear whether a traditional approach using averaged characteristics such as theaerodynamic roughness length is sufficient to predict the concentration field at this scale. To investigate pollutant dispersion in a real urban area, three field experiments were designed within the UK-URGENT programme sponsored by NERC. Theexperiments were performed in the City of Birmingham using a finite duration release of inert, non-toxic and non-depositingtracers, vis. perfluoromethylcyclohexane (PMCH) and perfluoromethylcyclopentane (PMCP). Measurements were taken using air bag samplers placedin an arc at 3.5 km (first experiment) and 1 km (second andthird experiments) from the source; some trap samplers wereplaced outside the main arc in the outskirts of the city. Measurements were analysed in the laboratory using anovel gas-chromatography technique. Data so obtained werecompared with predictions from a simple steady-state modeland a time-dependent model. The concentration-time serieswere very asymmetrical with a sharp rise, a plateau followedby a relatively slow decrease and finally a long-livedplateau above (or possibly very slow decrease to) thebackground level.

The influence of the microscopic characteristics of a random medium on incoherent light transport

In this paper the influence of the microscopic characteristics of a random medium on non polarized, incoherent steady light transport (ISLT) is investigated. After close examination of current diffusion models, the source term in those models is modified, allowing a complete modeling of experimental and simulated radial dependance of backscattered and transmitted intensities for media thicknesses larger than the transport length. The new model only presents an additional source with respect to the elementary point source model. Thanks to more than 200 Monte-Carlo simulations, this parameter is correlated to the backscattering part of the Mie phase function. Incoherent Steady Light Transport measurements on two industrial emulsions at various volume fractions validate experimentally this correlation. This establishes a complete link between the microscopic characteristic of the random medium (size, optical indexes and volume fraction) and its macroscopic description in terms of diffusion and source parameters, opening new potential applications of the ISLT technique to, for example, the evaluation of the particles interaction potential in concentrated suspensions.

Optimal fourier rheometry

A new time-optimal rheometry technique is presented. It consists in applying to the material a continuous exponential frequency sweep and analyzing its response by means of Fourier transforms. The properties of this method are that it takes the least possible time to perform the linear viscoelastic measurement in a given frequency range, and also presents an optimal signal to noise ratio in Fourier space. After validation against classical methods, it is used to characterize the gelation of a dental alginate. Properly time-resolved measurements of the frequency dependent viscoelastic modulii are presented. This allows to evaluate rigorously the gel point, using the Winter and Chambon criterion. Analysis of the data shows that a fractal networks forms inside the material after a lag time of about 350s, with a subsequent fast evolution (less than two minutes) towards the final structure.