Neelesh A. Patankar

Numerical Simulation of Electroosmotic Flow

We have developed a numerical scheme to simulate electroosmotic flows in complicated geometries. We studied the electroosmotic injection characteristics of a cross-channel device for capillary electrophoresis. We found that the desired rectangular shape of the sample plug at the intersection of the cross-channel can be obtained when the injection is carried out at high electric field intensities. The shape of the sample plug can also be controlled by applying an electric potential or a pressure at the side reservoirs. Flow induced from the side channels into the injection channel squeezes the streamlines at the intersection, thus giving a less distorted sample plug. Results of our simulations agree qualitatively with experimental observations.

A new formulation of the distributed Lagrange multiplier/fictitious domain method for particulate flows

A Lagrange-multiplier-based fictitious-domain method (DLM) for the direct numerical simulation of rigid particulate flows in a Newtonian fluid was presented previously. An important feature of this finite element based method is that the flow in the particle domain is constrained to be a rigid body motion by using a well-chosen field of Lagrange multipliers. The constraint of rigid body motion is represented by ua Ua o r; u being the velocity of the fluid at a point in the particle domain; U and o are the translational and angular velocities of the particle, respectively; and r is the position vector of the point with respect to the center of mass of the particle. The fluid‐particle motion is treated implicitly using a combined weak formulation in which the mutual forces cancel. This formulation together with the above equation of constraint gives an algorithm that requires extra conditions on the space of the distributed Lagrange multipliers when the density of the fluid and the particles match. In view of the above issue a new formulation of the DLM for particulate flow is presented in this paper. In this approach the deformation rate tensor within the particle domain is constrained to be zero at points in the fluid occupied by rigid solids. This formulation shows that the state of stress inside a rigid body depends on the velocity field similar to pressure in an incompressible fluid. The new formulation is implemented by modifying the DLM code for two-dimensional particulate flows developed by others. The code is verified by comparing results with other simulations and experiments. 7 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stabilization of Leidenfrost vapour layer by textured superhydrophobic surfaces

In 1756, Leidenfrost observed that water drops skittered on a sufficiently hot skillet, owing to levitation by an evaporative vapour film. Such films are stable only when the hot surface is above a critical temperature, and are a central phenomenon in boiling. In this so-called Leidenfrost regime, the low thermal conductivity of the vapour layer inhibits heat transfer between the hot surface and the liquid. When the temperature of the cooling surface drops below the critical temperature, the vapour film collapses and the system enters a nucleate-boiling regime, which can result in vapour explosions that are particularly detrimental in certain contexts, such as in nuclear power plants. The presence of these vapour films can also reduce liquid–solid drag. Here we show how vapour film collapse can be completely suppressed at textured superhydrophobic surfaces. At a smooth hydrophobic surface, the vapour film still collapses on cooling, albeit at a reduced critical temperature, and the system switches explosively to nucleate boiling. In contrast, at textured, superhydrophobic surfaces, the vapour layer gradually relaxes until the surface is completely cooled, without exhibiting a nucleate-boiling phase. This result demonstrates that topological texture on superhydrophobic materials is critical in stabilizing the vapour layer and thus in controlling—by heat transfer—the liquid–gas phase transition at hot surfaces. This concept can potentially be applied to control other phase transitions, such as ice or frost formation, and to the design of low-drag surfaces at which the vapour phase is stabilized in the grooves of textures without heating.

Design of Surface Hierarchy for Extreme Hydrophobicity

An extreme water-repellent surface is designed and fabricated with a hierarchical integration of nano- and microscale textures. We combined the two readily accessible etching techniques, a standard deep silicon etching, and a gas phase isotropic etching (XeF2) for the uniform formation of double roughness on a silicon surface. The fabricated synthetic surface shows the hallmarks of the Lotus effect: durable super water repellency (contact angle>173 degrees) and the sole existence of the Cassie state even with a very large spacing between roughness structures (>1:7.5). We directly demonstrate the absence of the Wenzels or wetted state through a series of experiments. When a water droplet is squeezed or dropped on the fabricated surface, the contact angle hardly changes and the released droplet instantly springs back without remaining wetted on the surface. We also show that a ball of water droplet keeps bouncing on the surface. Furthermore, the droplet shows very small contact angle hysteresis which can be further used in applications such as super-repellent coating and low-drag microfludics. These properties are attributed to the nano/micro surface texture designed to keep the nonwetting state energetically favorable.

Modeling and numerical simulation of particulate flows by the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach

Abstract In this paper we present an Eulerian–Lagrangian numerical simulation (LNS) scheme for particulate flows. The overall algorithm in the present approach is a variation of the scheme presented earlier. In this numerical scheme we solve the fluid phase continuity and momentum equations on an Eulerian grid. The particle motion is governed by Newtons law thus following the Lagrangian approach. Momentum exchange from the particle to fluid is modeled in the fluid phase momentum equation. Forces acting on the particles include drag from the fluid, body force and the interparticle force that prevents the particle volume fraction from exceeding the close-packing limit. There is freedom to use different models for these forces and to introduce other forces. In this paper we have used two types of interparticle forces. The effect of viscous stresses are included in the fluid phase equations. The volume fraction of the particles appear in the fluid phase continuity and momentum equations. The fluid and particle momentum equations are coupled in the solution procedure unlike an earlier approach. A finite volume method is used to solve these equations on an Eulerian grid. Particle positions are updated explicitly. This numerical scheme can handle a range of particle loadings and particle types. We solve the fluid phase continuity and momentum equations using a Chorin-type fractional-step method. The numerical scheme is verified by comparing results with test cases and experiments.

Consolidation of hydrophobic transition criteria by using an approximate energy minimization approach.

Recent experimental work has successfully revealed pressure induced transition from Cassie to Wenzel state on rough hydrophobic substrates. Formulas, based on geometric considerations and imposed pressure, have been developed as transition criteria. In the past, transition has also been considered as a process of overcoming the energy barrier between the Cassie and Wenzel states. A unified understanding of the various considerations of transition has not been apparent. To address this issue, in this work, we consolidate the transition criteria with a homogenized energy minimization approach. This approach decouples the problem of minimizing the energy to wet the rough substrate, from the energy of the macroscopic drop. It is seen that the transition from Cassie to Wenzel state, due to depinning of the liquid-air interface, emerges from the approximate energy minimization approach if the pressure-volume energy associated with the impaled liquid in the roughness is included. This transition can be viewed as a process in which the work done by the pressure force is greater than the barrier due to the surface energy associated with wetting the roughness. It is argued that another transition mechanism, due to a sagging liquid-air interface that touches the bottom of the roughness grooves, is not typically relevant if the substrate roughness is designed such that the Cassie state is at lower energy compared to the Wenzel state.

A numerical method for fully resolved simulation (FRS) of rigid particle-flow interactions in complex flows

A fictitious-domain based formulation for fully resolved simulations of arbitrary shaped, freely moving rigid particles in unsteady flows is presented. The entire fluid-particle domain is assumed to be an incompressible, but variable density, fluid. The numerical method is based on a finite-volume approach on a co-located, Cartesian grid together with a fractional step method for variable density, low-Mach number flows. The flow inside the fluid region is constrained to be divergence-free for an incompressible fluid, whereas the flow inside the particle domain is constrained to undergo rigid body motion. In this approach, the rigid body motion constraint is imposed by avoiding the explicit calculation of distributed Lagrange multipliers and is based upon the formulation developed by Patankar [N. Patankar, A formulation for fast computations of rigid particulate flows, Center for Turbulence Research Annual Research Briefs 2001 (2001) 185-196]. The rigidity constraint is imposed and the rigid body motion (translation and rotational velocity fields) is obtained directly in the context of a two-stage fractional step scheme. The numerical approach is applied to both imposed particle motion and fluid-particle interaction problems involving freely moving particles. Grid and time-step convergence studies are performed to evaluate the accuracy of the approach. Finally, simulation of rigid particles in a decaying isotropic turbulent flow is performed to study the feasibility of simulations of particle-laden turbulent flows.

Lift-off of a single particle in Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids by direct numerical simulation

In this paper we study the lift-off to equilibrium of a single circular particle in Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids by direct numerical simulation. A particle heavier than the fluid is driven forward on the bottom of a channel by a plane Poiseuille flow. After a certain critical Reynolds number, the particle rises from the wall to an equilibrium height at which the buoyant weight just balances the upward thrust from the hydrodynamic force. The aim of the calculation is the determination of the critical lift-off condition and the evolution of the height, velocity and angular velocity of the particle as a function of the pressure gradient and material and geometric parameters. The critical Reynolds number for lift-off is found to be larger for a heavier particle whereas it is lower for a particle in a viscoelastic fluid. A correlation for the critical shear Reynolds number for lift-off is obtained. The equilibrium height increases with the Reynolds number, the fluid elasticity and the slip angular velocity of the particle. Simulations of single particle lift-off at higher Reynolds numbers in a Newtonian fluid by Choi & Joseph (2001) but reported here show multiple steady states and hysteresis loops. This is shown here to be due to the presence of two turning points of the equilibrium solution.

Mechanical properties of a bio-inspired robotic knifefish with an undulatory propulsor

South American electric knifefish are a leading model system within neurobiology. Recent efforts have focused on understanding their biomechanics and relating this to their neural processing strategies. Knifefish swim by means of an undulatory fin that runs most of the length of their body, affixed to the belly. Propelling themselves with this fin enables them to keep their body relatively straight while swimming, enabling straightforward robotic implementation with a rigid hull. In this study, we examined the basic properties of undulatory swimming through use of a robot that was similar in some key respects to the knifefish. As we varied critical fin kinematic variables such as frequency, amplitude, and wavelength of sinusoidal traveling waves, we measured the force generated by the robot when it swam against a stationary sensor, and its velocity while swimming freely within a flow tunnel system. Our results show that there is an optimal operational region in the fins kinematic parameter space. The optimal actuation parameters found for the robotic knifefish are similar to previously observed parameters for the black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons. Finally, we used our experimental results to show how the force generated by the robotic fin can be decomposed into thrust and drag terms. Our findings are useful for future bio-inspired underwater vehicles as well as for understanding the mechanics of knifefish swimming.

A new mathematical formulation and fast algorithm for fully resolved simulation of self-propulsion

We present a computational algorithm for fully resolved numerical simulation (FRS) of rigid and deforming bodies moving in fluids. Given the deformation of the body in its own reference frame, the method solves for the swimming velocity of the body together with the surrounding flow field, and the hydrodynamic forces on the body. We provide the mathematical foundation of the algorithm based on distributed Lagrange multipliers, and show that it naturally connects with vortex methods through a vorticity source at the interface. We demonstrate applications to rigid and flexible bodies, membranes, and bodies with a propelling membrane attached to them. In contrast to some existing methods, the swimming velocity of the body is not prescribed but is computed along with the forces, without requiring a body-fitted grid. The algorithm is designed to be fast, efficient, and easy to implement in existing fluid dynamics codes for practical solid-fluid problems in engineering and biology.