Jerzy Blawzdziewicz

Drop breakup in three-dimensional viscous flows

A new three-dimensional boundary integral algorithm is presented that is capable of simulating the process of drop breakup in viscous flows. The surface discretization is fully adaptive, thus providing accurate resolution of the highly deformed drop shapes that are characteristic of breakup events. Our algorithm is used to study drop breakup in shear flow and in buoyancy; the predictions are compared with experimental observations.

Drop breakup and fragment size distribution in shear flow

We report a study on the deformation and breakup of drops in an impulsively started shear flow under Stokes flow conditions using boundary-integral simulations and video-microscopy experiments. Two independent techniques are used for determining the physical parameters of the system from the combined use of numerical simulations and experiments. Accurate breakup criteria (critical capillary numbers) are presented for a range of viscosity ratios. The time required for breakup events has a broad minimum corresponding to moderate shear rates. The size distribution of droplets produced by breakup events is shown to scale with the critical size drop for breakup in shear. A simplified model, based on this finding, is developed for the size distribution in a sheared emulsion. According to the model, the drop size distribution in a given emulsion depends only on the average initial drop size and the shear rate.

Streaming potential studies of colloid, polyelectrolyte and protein deposition

Recent developments in the electrokinetic determination of particle, protein and polyelectrolyte monolayers at solid/electrolyte interfaces, are reviewed. Illustrative theoretical results characterizing particle transport to interfaces are presented, especially analytical formulae for the limiting flux under various deposition regimes and expressions for diffusion coefficients of various particle shapes. Then, blocking effects appearing for higher surface coverage of particles are characterized in terms of the random sequential adsorption model. These theoretical predictions are used for interpretation of experimental results obtained for colloid particles and proteins under convection and diffusion transport conditions. The kinetics of particle deposition and the structure of monolayers are analyzed quantitatively in terms of the generalized random sequential adsorption (RSA) model, considering the coupling of the bulk and surface transport steps. Experimental results are also discussed, showing the dependence of the jamming coverage of monolayers on the ionic strength of particle suspensions. In the next section, theoretical and experimental results pertaining to electrokinetics of particle covered surfaces are presented. Theoretical models are discussed, enabling a quantitative evaluation of the streaming current and the streaming potential as a function of particle coverage and their surface properties (zeta potential). Experimental data related to electrokinetic characteristics of particle monolayers, mostly streaming potential measurements, are presented and interpreted in terms of the above theoretical approaches. These results, obtained for model systems of monodisperse colloid particles are used as reference data for discussion of experiments performed for polyelectrolyte and protein covered surfaces. The utility of the electrokinetic measurements for a precise, in situ determination of particle and protein monolayers at various interfaces is pointed out.

Hydrodynamic interactions of spherical particles in suspensions confined between two planar walls

Hydrodynamic interactions in a suspension of spherical particles confined between two parallel planar walls are studied under creeping-flow conditions. The many-particle friction matrix in this system is evaluated using our novel numerical algorithm based on transformations between Cartesian and spherical representations of Stokes flow. The cartesian representation is used to describe the interaction of the fluid with the walls and the spherical representation is used to describe the interaction with the particles. The transformations between these two representations are given in a closed form, which allows us to evaluate the coefficients in linear equations for the induced-force multipoles on particle surfaces. the friction matrix is obtained from these equations, supplemented with the superposition lubrication corrections. we have used our algorithm to evaluate the friction matrix for a single sphere, a pair of spheres, and for linear chains of spheres. The friction matrix exhibits a crossover from a quasi-two-dimensional behaviour (for systems with small wall separation H) to THE three-dimensional behaviour (when the distance H is much larger than the interparticle distance L). the crossover is especially pronounced for a long chain moving in the direction normal to its orientation and parallel to the walls. in this configuration, a large pressure build-up occurs in front of the chain for small values of the gapwidth H, which results in a large hydrodynamic friction force. a standard wall superposition approximation does not capture this behaviour.

Many-particle hydrodynamic interactions in parallel-wall geometry: Cartesian-representation method

This paper describes the results of our theoretical and numerical studies of hydrodynamic interactions in a suspension of spherical particles confined between two parallel planar walls, under creeping-flow conditions. We propose a novel algorithm for accurate evaluation of the many-particle friction matrix in this system—no such algorithm has been available so far.

Random close packing revisited: Ways to pack frictionless disks

We create collectively jammed (CJ) packings of 50-50 bidisperse mixtures of smooth disks in two dimensions (2D) using an algorithm in which we successively compress or expand soft particles and minimize the total energy at each step until the particles are just at contact. We focus on small systems in 2D and thus are able to find nearly all of the collectively jammed states at each system size. We decompose the probability P(phi) for obtaining a collectively jammed state at a particular packing fraction phi into two composite functions: (1) the density of CJ packing fractions rho(phi), which only depends on geometry, and (2) the frequency distribution beta(phi), which depends on the particular algorithm used to create them. We find that the function rho(phi) is sharply peaked and that beta(phi) depends exponentially on phi. We predict that in the infinite-system-size limit the behavior of P(phi) in these systems is controlled by the density of CJ packing fractions--not the frequency distribution. These results suggest that the location of the peak in P(phi) when N --> infinity can be used as a protocol-independent definition of random close packing.

Deformation of a surfactant-covered drop in a linear flow

We study the effect of adsorbed surfactant on drop deformation in linear flows by means of analytical solutions for small perturbations of the drop shape and surfactant distribution, and by numerical simulations for large distortions. We consider a drop with the same viscosity as the suspending fluid. Under these conditions, the problem simplifies because the disturbance flow field results solely from the interfacial stresses that oppose the distortion of shape and surfactant distribution induced by the incident flow. A general form of perturbation analysis valid for any flow is presented. The analysis can be carried out to arbitrary order given its recursive structure; a third-order perturbation solution is explicitly presented. The expansions are compared to results from boundary integral simulations for drops in axisymmetric extensional and simple shear flows. Our results indicate that under weak-flow conditions, deformation is enhanced by the presence of surfactant, but the leading-order perturbation of the drop shape is independent of the (nonzero) surfactant elasticity. In strong flows, drop deformation depends nonmonotonically on surfactant elasticity. The non-Newtonian rheology in a dilute emulsion that results from drop deformation and surfactant redistribution is predicted. Shear thinning is most pronounced for low values of the surfactant elasticity. In the weak-flow limit with finite surfactant elasticity, the emulsion behaves as a suspension of rigid spheres. In strong flows, the stresses can approach the behavior for surfactant-free drops.We study the effect of adsorbed surfactant on drop deformation in linear flows by means of analytical solutions for small perturbations of the drop shape and surfactant distribution, and by numerical simulations for large distortions. We consider a drop with the same viscosity as the suspending fluid. Under these conditions, the problem simplifies because the disturbance flow field results solely from the interfacial stresses that oppose the distortion of shape and surfactant distribution induced by the incident flow. A general form of perturbation analysis valid for any flow is presented. The analysis can be carried out to arbitrary order given its recursive structure; a third-order perturbation solution is explicitly presented. The expansions are compared to results from boundary integral simulations for drops in axisymmetric extensional and simple shear flows. Our results indicate that under weak-flow conditions, deformation is enhanced by the presence of surfactant, but the leading-order perturbation ...

Hydrodynamic interactions and collision efficiencies of spherical drops covered with an incompressible surfactant film

A theory is developed for the hydrodynamic interactions of surfactant-covered spherical drops in creeping flows. The surfactant is insoluble, and flow-induced changes of surfactant concentration are small, i.e. the film of adsorbed surfactant is incompressible. For a single surfactant-covered drop in an arbitrary incident flow, the Stokes equations are solved using a decomposition of the flow into surface-solenoidal and surface-irrotational components on concentric spherical surfaces. The surface-solenoidal component is unaffected by surfactant; the surface-irrotational component satisfies a slip-stick boundary condition with slip proportional to the surfactant diffusivity. Pair hydrodynamic interactions of surfactant-covered bubbles are computed from the one-particle solution using a multiple-scattering expansion. Two terms in a lubrication expansion are derived for axisymmetric near-contact motion. The pair mobility functions are used to compute collision efficiencies for equal-size surfactant-covered bubbles in linear flows and in Brownian motion. An asymptotic analysis is presented for weak surfactant diffusion and weak van der Waals attraction

Hydrodynamic interactions of spherical particles in Poiseuille flow between two parallel walls

We study hydrodynamic interactions of spherical particles in incident Poiseuille flow in a channel with infinite planar walls. The particles are suspended in a Newtonian fluid, and creeping-flow conditions are assumed. Numerical results, obtained using our highly accurate Cartesian-representation algorithm [Physica A 356, 294 (2005)] are presented for a single sphere, two spheres, and arrays of many spheres. We consider the motion of freely suspended particles as well as the forces and torques acting on particles adsorbed at a wall. We find that the pair hydrodynamic interactions in this wall-bounded system have a complex dependence on the lateral interparticle distance due to the combined effects of the dissipation in the gap between the particle surfaces and the backflow associated with the presence of the walls. For immobile particle pairs we have examined the crossover between several far-field asymptotic regimes corresponding to different relations between the particle separation and the distances of...

Rheology of a dilute emulsion of surfactant-covered spherical drops

The rheology of a diluted emulsion of surfactant-covered spherical drops has been investigated. A diluted film of insoluble surfactant is assumed. A matrix formulation of the problem is derived and analyzed by perturbation expansions for low- and high-shear rates, and for high-viscosity drops; the high-viscosity expansion converges rapidly for a wide range of parameters. Our theory provides a quantitative description of shear thinning and normal stress differences that occur as a result of surfactant redistribution.