Fredrik Lundell

Hydrodynamic alignment and assembly of nanofibrils resulting in strong cellulose filaments.

Cellulose nanofibrils can be obtained from trees and have considerable potential as a building block for biobased materials. In order to achieve good properties of these materials, the nanostructure must be controlled. Here we present a process combining hydrodynamic alignment with a dispersion–gel transition that produces homogeneous and smooth filaments from a low-concentration dispersion of cellulose nanofibrils in water. The preferential fibril orientation along the filament direction can be controlled by the process parameters. The specific ultimate strength is considerably higher than previously reported filaments made of cellulose nanofibrils. The strength is even in line with the strongest cellulose pulp fibres extracted from wood with the same degree of fibril alignment. Successful nanoscale alignment before gelation demands a proper separation of the timescales involved. Somewhat surprisingly, the device must not be too small if this is to be achieved.

Highly conducting, strong nanocomposites based on nanocellulose-assisted aqueous dispersions of single-wall carbon nanotubes.

It is challenging to obtain high-quality dispersions of single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs) in composite matrix materials, in order to reach the full potential of mechanical and electronic properties. The most widely used matrix materials are polymers, and the route to achieving high quality dispersions of SWNT is mainly chemical functionalization of the SWNT. This leads to increased cost, a loss of strength and lower conductivity. In addition full potential of colloidal self-assembly cannot be fully exploited in a polymer matrix. This may limit the possibilities for assembly of highly ordered structural nanocomposites. Here we show that nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) can act as an excellent aqueous dispersion agent for as-prepared SWNTs, making possible low-cost exfoliation and purification of SWNTs with dispersion limits exceeding 40 wt %. The NFC:SWNT dispersion may also offer a cheap and sustainable alternative for molecular self-assembly of advanced composites. We demonstrate semitransparent conductive films, aerogels and anisotropic microscale fibers with nanoscale composite structure. The NFC:SWNT nanopaper shows increased strength at 3 wt % SWNT, reaching a modulus of 13.3 GPa, and a strength of 307 MPa. The anisotropic microfiber composites have maximum conductivities above 200 S cm(-1) and current densities reaching 1400 A cm(-2).

Reactive control of transition induced by free-stream turbulence: an experimental demonstration

The present wind-tunnel experiment demonstrates that a reactive control system is able to decrease the amplitude of random disturbances in a flat-plate boundary layer. The disturbances were induced ...

Stabilizing effect of surrounding gas flow on a plane liquid sheet

The stability of a plane liquid sheet is studied experimentally and theoretically, with an emphasis on the effect of the surrounding gas. Co-blowing with a gas velocity of the same order of magnitu ...

Rotation of a spheroid in a simple shear at small Reynolds number

We derive an effective equation of motion for the orientational dynamics of a neutrally buoyant spheroid suspended in a simple shear flow, valid for arbitrary particle aspect ratios and to linear order in the shear Reynolds number. We show how inertial effects lift the degeneracy of the Jeffery orbits and determine the stabilities of the log-rolling and tumbling orbits at infinitesimal shear Reynolds numbers. For prolate spheroids we find stable tumbling in the shear plane, log-rolling is unstable. For oblate particles, by contrast, log-rolling is stable and tumbling is unstable provided that the aspect ratio is larger than a critical value. When the aspect ratio is smaller than this value tumbling turns stable, and an unstable limit cycle is born.

Passive appendages generate drift through symmetry breaking

Plants and animals use plumes, barbs, tails, feathers, hairs and fins to aid locomotion. Many of these appendages are not actively controlled, instead they have to interact passively with the surrounding fluid to generate motion. Here, we use theory, experiments and numerical simulations to show that an object with a protrusion in a separated flow drifts sideways by exploiting a symmetry-breaking instability similar to the instability of an inverted pendulum. Our model explains why the straight position of an appendage in a fluid flow is unstable and how it stabilizes either to the left or right of the incoming flow direction. It is plausible that organisms with appendages in a separated flow use this newly discovered mechanism for locomotion; examples include the drift of plumed seeds without wind and the passive reorientation of motile animals.

Constructal Networks for Efficient Cooling/Heating

Channel networks designed with constructal theory are compared. The efficiency of the networks when used for cooling a uniformly heated surface is compared. Three networks are compared and it is found that the two constructal designs with two and three constructal levels have similar performance. It is shown that for a given pumping power, the constructal designs give a heat transfer coefficient of the surface which is almost a factor of magnitude higher than the one obtained for a parallel channel system.Copyright

Fiber Orientation Control Related to Papermaking

This thesis deals with fibre orientation in wall-bounded shear flows. The primary application in mind is papermaking. The study is mainly experimental,but is complemented with theoretical considerations.The main part of the thesis concerns the orientation of slowly settlingfibres in a wall-bounded viscous shear flow. This is a flow case not dealt withpreviously even at small Reynolds numbers. Experiments were conducted usingdilute suspensions with fibres having aspect ratios of rp ≈ 7 and 30. It is foundthat the wall effect on the orientation is small for distances from the wall wherethe fibre centre is located farther than half a fibre length from the wall. Farfrom the wall most fibres were oriented close to the flow direction. Closer tothe wall than half a fibre length the orientation distribution first shifted to bemore isotropic and in the very proximity of the wall the fibres were orientedclose to perpendicular to the flow direction, nearly aligned with the vorticityaxis. This was most evident for the shorter fibres with rp ≈ 7.Due to the density difference between the fibres and the fluid there is anincreased concentration near the wall. Still, a physical mechanism is requiredin order for a fibre initially oriented close to the flow direction at about half afibre length from the wall to change its orientation to aligned with the vorticityaxis once it has settled down to the wall. A slender body approach is usedin order to estimate the effect of wall reflection and repeated wall contacts onthe fibre rotation. It is found that the both a wall reflection, due to settlingtowards the wall, and contact between the fibre end and the wall are expectedto rotate the fibre closer to the vorticity axis. A qualitative agreement withthe experimental results is found in a numerical study based on the theoreticalestimation.In addition an experimental study on fibre orientation in the boundarylayers of a headbox is reported. The orientation distribution in planes parallelto the wall is studied. The distribution is found to be more anisotropic closerto the wall, i.e. the fibres tend to be oriented closer to the flow direction nearthe wall. This trend is observed sufficiently far upstream in the headbox.Farther downstream no significant change in the orientation distribution couldbe detected for different distances from the wall.

Ultrastrong and Bioactive Nanostructured Bio-Based Composites

Natures design of functional materials relies on smart combinations of simple components to achieve desired properties. Silk and cellulose are two clever examples from nature-spider silk being tough due to high extensibility, whereas cellulose possesses unparalleled strength and stiffness among natural materials. Unfortunately, silk proteins cannot be obtained in large quantities from spiders, and recombinant production processes are so far rather expensive. We have therefore combined small amounts of functionalized recombinant spider silk proteins with the most abundant structural component on Earth (cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs)) to fabricate isotropic as well as anisotropic hierarchical structures. Our approach for the fabrication of bio-based anisotropic fibers results in previously unreached but highly desirable mechanical performance with a stiffness of ∼55 GPa, strength at break of ∼1015 MPa, and toughness of ∼55 MJ m-3. We also show that addition of small amounts of silk fusion proteins to CNF results in materials with advanced biofunctionalities, which cannot be anticipated for the wood-based CNF alone. These findings suggest that bio-based materials provide abundant opportunities to design composites with high strength and functionalities and bring down our dependence on fossil-based resources.

The effect of particle inertia on triaxial ellipsoids in creeping shear: From drift toward chaos to a single periodic solution

The motion of inertial, triaxial ellipsoids in creeping shear flow is explained for a wide range of aspect ratios and Stokes numbers (St, quantifying particle inertia). Particle inertia induces a drift toward rotation around the shortest axis, with this axis aligned with the vorticity axis of the flow. For aspect ratio combinations in a certain region, this periodic state is unstable for low St and the particle moves in a chaotic manner. At higher St, the instability is stabilized and one single final periodic motion is well defined also for (in the limit of St=0) unstable aspect ratios.