Hydrodynamic Fluid Research Articles

Modifications of single walled carbon nanotubes by ion-induced plasma

Ion beam technology is used efficiently for tailoring the properties of various nanomaterials. Here, we focus on the structural modifications of carbon nanotubes by highly energetic heavy ions of MeV–GeV kinetic energy. The irradiation with high ion fluence induces significant topographic change along the irradiated nanotubes. We introduce a hydrodynamic fluid model for explaining the observed results by investigating the ion-induced plasma. The calculations shows that the evolution of the periodic electric potential coincides qualitatively with the observed broken nanostructured segments along the irradiated nanotube. Moreover, the increase in ion fluence leads to an increase in the magnitude of the normalized electric potential. The dependence of the electric potential on the ion kinetic energy is discussed.

DNA Coil Dynamics and Hydrodynamic Gating of Pressure-Biased Nanopores.

Nanopores are ideally suited for the analysis of long DNA fragments including chromosomal DNA and synthetic DNA with applications in genome sequencing and DNA data storage, respectively. Hydrodynamic fluid flow has been shown to slow down DNA transit time within the pore, however other influences of hydrodynamic forces have yet to be explored. In this report, a broad analysis of pressure-biased nanopores and the impact of hydrodynamics on DNA transit time, capture rate, current blockade depth, and DNA folding are conducted. Using a 10nm pore, it is shown that hydrodynamic flow inhibits the early stages of linearization of DNA and produces predominately folded events which are initiated by folded DNA (2-strands) entering the pore. Furthermore, utilizing larger pores (30nm) leads to unique DNA gating behavior in which DNA events can be switched on and off with the application of pressure. A computational model, based on combining electrophoretic drift velocities with fluid velocities, accurately predicts the pore size required to observe DNA gating. Hydrodynamic fluid flow generated by a pressure bias, or potentially more generally by other mechanisms like electroosmotic flow, is shown to have significant effects on DNA sensing and can be useful for DNA sensing technologies.

A Noninvasive Approach in the Hydrodynamics of the Cerebrospinal Fluid in the Spinal Cavity

A Noninvasive Approach in the Hydrodynamics of the Cerebrospinal Fluid in the Spinal Cavity

Magnetic field-assisted wakefield generation and electron acceleration by Gaussian and super-Gaussian laser pulses in plasma

This study focuses on electron acceleration and wakefield produced by Gaussian and Super-Gaussian (SG) laser pulses through plasma medium in the attendance of an external magnetic field. Two shapes of different laser spatial profiles Gaussian and SG are considered. Besides, governing equations for analysis of laser wakefield and electron acceleration by using of hydrodynamics fluid equations, Maxwell’s equations and perturbation technique for Gaussian and SG laser pulses in weakly nonlinear regime have been derived. In addition, influence of the external magnetic field strengths, laser intensity, the pulselength, the plasma electron density and the laser frequency on the wakefield and the electron energy gain have been investigated. Numerical results indicate that by increasing of external magnetic field, the amplitude of wakefield increases. Moreover, it is observed that wakefield amplitude excited by SG laser pulse in comparison with Gaussian laser pulse is larger when external magnetic field is increased. Furthermore, it is found that wakefield amplitude and shape of wakefield generation in within homogeneous plasma greatly are related to the laser profile type, selected laser parameters and external magnetic field. In addition, it is seen that influence of external magnetic field, while laser intensity enhances, on the electron energy gain in SG and Gaussian laser pulses is insignificant.

Laser-induced-fluorescence imaging of a spin-polarized ultracold neutral plasma in a magnetic field

We report Doppler-sensitive laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) imaging of an ultracold neutral plasma in a magnetic field. Local values of ion density, hydrodynamic fluid velocity, temperature, and spin polarization are obtained using a fluorescence model based on velocity-resolved rate equations (REs) including the transfer of ions between states due to laser coupling and spontaneous emission. The RE approach captures optical pumping of ions into states that are not driven by the LIF excitation laser, and this is validated with experimental data. Combined molecular-dynamics and quantum-trajectories simulations verify that velocity-changing collisions have a negligible impact on the state population evolution for typical experimental conditions. Relative intensities of Zeeman components of the LIF spectra provide clear evidence that the ions are electron-spin-polarized when created by photoionization of magnetically trapped $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ atoms. This probe opens many possibilities for studying thermal transport and the equilibration of neutral plasmas in overlapping regimes of strong coupling and magnetization.

Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in strongly coupled dusty plasma with rotational shear flows and tracer transport

Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability plays a significant role in transport and mixing in various media such as hydrodynamic fluids, plasmas, geophysical flows and astrophysical situations. In this paper, we numerically explore this instability for a two-dimensional strongly coupled dusty plasma medium with rotational shear flows. We study this medium using a generalized hydrodynamic fluid model which treats it as a viscoelastic fluid. We consider the specific cases of rotating vorticity with abrupt radial profiles of rotation. In particular, single-circulation and multi-circulation vorticity shell profiles have been chosen. We observe the KH vortices at each circular interface between two relative rotating flows along with a pair of ingoing and outgoing wavefronts of transverse shear waves. Our studies show that due to the interplay between KH vortices and shear waves in the strongly coupled medium, the mixing and transport behaviour are much better than those of standard inviscid hydrodynamic fluids. In the interest of substantiating the mixing and transport behaviour, the generalized hydrodynamic fluid model is extended to include Lagrangian tracer particles. The numerical dispersion of these tracer particles in a flow provides an estimate of the diffusion in such a medium. We present the preliminary observations of tracer distribution (cluster formation) and diffusion (mean square displacement) across the medium.

New Insights from Locally Resolved Hydrodynamics in Stirred Cell Culture Reactors

The link between hydrodynamics and biological process behavior of antibody-producing mammalian cell cultures is still not fully understood. Common methods to describe dependencies refer mostly to averaged hydrodynamic parameters obtained for individual cultivation systems. In this study, cellular effects and locally resolved hydrodynamics were investigated for impellers with different spatial hydrodynamics. Therefore, the hydrodynamics, mainly flow velocity, shear rate and power input, in a single- and a three-impeller bioreactor setup were analyzed by means of CFD simulations, and cultivation experiments with antibody-producing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were performed at various agitation rates in both reactor setups. Within the three-impeller bioreactor setup, cells could be cultivated successfully at much higher agitation rates as in the single-impeller bioreactor, probably due to a more uniform flow pattern. It could be shown that this different behavior cannot be linked to parameters commonly used to describe shear effects on cells such as the mean energy dissipation rate or the Kolmogorov length scale, even if this concept is extended by locally resolved hydrodynamic parameters. Alternatively, the hydrodynamic heterogeneity was statistically quantified by means of variance coefficients of the hydrodynamic parameters fluid velocity, shear rate, and energy dissipation rate. The calculated variance coefficients of all hydrodynamic parameters were higher in the setup with three impellers than in the single impeller setup, which might explain the rather stable process behavior in multiple impeller systems due to the reduced hydrodynamic heterogeneity. Such comprehensive insights lead to a deeper understanding of the bioprocess.

Computational simulations using a low density ratio-based kinetic theory of granular flow in subcritical water fluidized beds

Hydrodynamics of fluid and particles were simulated using a low density ratio-based kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF) in subcritical water (SbW) fluidized beds (FB). Results indicated that the fluidization state of the SbW-particles mixture changes progressively from particulate to aggregative, indicating that a transitional state exists between aggregative and particulate fluidization. Wavy-like and churn-like flows were found along bed height in SbW FBs, unlike the homogeneous fluidization found in atmospheric water (AW) FBs and wispy-annular-like flow found in supercritical water (SCW) FBs. The predicted axial velocities and RMS fluctuating velocities of particles agreed approximately with measurements reported in the literature. The effect of fluid pressure and temperature, inlet fluid velocity and particle density on distributions of solid volume fractions and velocities were analyzed in SbW FBs.

Consistent hydrodynamics of ferrofluids

We develop a consistent hydrodynamic theory for ferrofluids that can be concentrated, strongly interacting, and polydisperse. We analyze the dynamics of ferrocolloids under imposed flow and magnetic field, from micro-, meso-, and macroscopic points of view. We settle the long-standing debate on the correct reactive contribution to magnetization dynamics near or far from equilibrium. We obtain a fundamental mesoscopic rotational fluctuation-dissipation relation, linking vortex viscosity and rotational self-diffusivity and with far-reaching consequences on ferrofluid hydrodynamics. It distinguishes from the traditional Stokes–Einstein–Debye relation that only applies to dilute and noninteracting systems. Furthermore, it is used to infer the size of structure units whose rotational diffusion is responsible for the primary Debye peak of water. The characteristic hydrodynamic radius is estimated to be ∼0.18 nm, considerably larger than the geometrical radius of water molecules. This is in contrast to the result obtained by naively employing the Stokes–Einstein–Debye relation. We revisit the magnetoviscous effect in ferrofluids and obtain novel expressions for the rotational viscosity, shedding new light on the effects of inter-particle correlations and particle packing. In particular, previous models usually confuse solvent vorticity with suspension vorticity and do not yield the actual rotational viscosity measured in experiments. We compare our theoretical predictions with recent simulations and find quantitatively good agreements. Our work is to be a cornerstone for understanding ferrofluid dynamics and of considerable importance to various applications. It can be also valuable for studying the hydrodynamics of other structured fluids.

Factors controlling the geometry of travertine mounds: Insights from Heinitang (China)

AbstractTravertine mounds are common spring‐constructed landforms with highly variable geometries, but factors controlling their development have not yet been fully understood. To investigate processes linked with their lateral and vertical growth, this study investigated travertine mounds at Heinitang (China) and compared them with typical mounds around the world. Calcium concentration variation modelling and height evaluation of travertine mounds were also performed. The lateral extent of travertine mounds was found to be mainly controlled by Ca2+ and concentrations and water discharge: relatively small metre‐scale mounds, like those from Heinitang, are largely the products of Ca2+‐deficiency (<150 mg L−1, commonly <100 mg L−1) or ‐deficiency (<500 mg L−1) springs with low discharges (<0.1 L s−1), whereas springs with higher Ca2+ and concentrations and discharges give rise to the formation of wider mounds. Additional factors affecting mound lateral development include infiltration, evaporation, micro‐organisms, water cooling, CO2 degassing and flow paths. Height of travertine mounds cannot be simply considered to represent the piezometric surface, because the vertical growth of travertine mounds is also influenced by the water table change triggered by tectonic pulses and climate fluctuations, and the closing of conduits induced by self‐sealing. The extinction of travertine mounds at Heinitang is, for example, probably caused by the water table lowering triggered by earthquakes or climate drying after 4 kyr bp. These findings offer new inputs for the better understanding of factors controlling travertine mound development and might assist in the reconstruction of fluid properties, hydrodynamics, tectonics and climate fluctuations in fossil geothermal systems with travertine mounds.

Hydrodynamics of ideal fracton fluids

Low-energy dynamics of many-body fracton excitations necessary to describe topological defects should be governed by a novel type of hydrodynamic theory. We use a Poisson bracket approach to systematically derive hydrodynamic equations from conservation laws of scalar theories with fracton excitations. We study three classes of theories. In the first class we introduce a general action for a scalar with a shift symmetry linear in the spatial coordinates, whereas the second one correspond with a complex scalar, while the third class serves as a toy model for disclinations and dislocations propagating along the Burgers vector. We apply our construction to study hydrodynamic fluctuations around equilibrium states and derive the dispersion relations of hydrodynamic modes.

Numerical simulation of the hydrodynamics of yield stress fluids during dip coating

1 The dip coating of yield stress fluids was simulated at Bingham number below 1. 2 The effects of individual physical parameters and the lifting speed on the flow inside the bath were studied. 3 The relationship between flow region, velocity and shear stress of fluids in the bath were established. 4 The dimensionless film thickness can be well described by the Bingham number. The literature has treated the dip coating of yield stress fluids with the Bingham number ( B i = τ c / K γ ˙ n , where τ c , K , γ ˙ and n are the yield stress, consistency factor, shear rate and power-law exponent, respectively.) being larger than 1, and has ignored the influence of shear-dependent component ( K γ ˙ n ). This work simulated the dip-coating process for various simple yield stress fluids with Bi numbers below 1, and showed the importance of yield stress and shear-dependent component for the hydrodynamics inside the bath as well as the film thickness. The yielded-unyielded boundaries as well as the profiles of flow velocity and shear stress were theoretically determined under final steady state. The main flow characteristics of drainage in the meniscus were captured. Under the negligible effect of surface tension on the film coating, a semi-empirical model of film thickness considering drainage effect is proposed with good prediction performance.

Series Flat Plate Pulsating Heat Pipe: Fabrication and Experimentation

Pulsating Heat Pipes have recently become popular due to their capability in removing heat at higher rates, over short or long distances. Their passive operation and relative ease of manufacturing have been added to their popularity. In this study, a combination of two flat plate pulsating heat pipes in series configuration is proposed and their thermo-hydraulic behavior is investigated experimentally in vertical bottom heated mode. The series configuration provides the possibility of heat removal from the heat source within longer distances at acceptable efficiencies. Fluid type, filling ratios, and input powers were the factors chosen to study their influence on the operation of the setup. The results showed that the 60% filling ratio for the water filled channel together with the 40% filling ratio for the methanol filled channel present the lowest thermal resistance in the range of considered input powers. It was observed that for all of the filling ratio combinations used, the methanol channel started oscillation before the water channel and it presented lower thermal resistance as compared with the water channel. The experimental results demonstrated that the dominant hydrodynamic fluid pattern is slug flow with the pulsation of fluid columns together with sporadic circulation at higher input power rates.

Fluid focusing and viscosity allow high gain and stability of the cochlear response.

This paper discusses the role of two-dimensional (2-D)/three-dimensional (3-D) cochlear fluid hydrodynamics in the generation of the large nonlinear dynamical range of the basilar membrane (BM) and pressure response, in the decoupling between cochlear gain and tuning, and in the dynamic stabilization of the high-gain BM response in the peak region. The large and closely correlated dependence on stimulus level of the BM velocity and fluid pressure gain [Dong, W., and Olson, E. S. (2013). Biophys. J. 105(4), 1067-1078] is consistent with a physiologically oriented schematization of the outer hair cell (OHC) mechanism if two hydrodynamic effects are accounted for: amplification of the differential pressure associated with a focusing phenomenon, and viscous damping at the BM-fluid interface. The predictions of the analytical 2-D Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approach are compared to solutions of a 3-D finite element model, showing that these hydrodynamic phenomena yield stable high-gain response in the peak region and a smooth transition among models with different effectiveness of the active mechanism, mimicking the cochlear nonlinear response over a wide stimulus level range. This study explains how an effectively anti-damping nonlinear outer hair cells (OHC) force may yield large BM and pressure dynamical ranges along with an almost level-independent admittance.

Gravitational instability in radiative molecular clouds including cosmic ray diffusion and ion Larmor radius corrections

ABSTRACT The effects of cosmic ray (CR) diffusion and finite Larmor radius (FLR) corrections have been studied on the linear gravitational instability of thermally conducting plasmas typically in the H ii regions of molecular clouds. The hydrodynamic fluid–fluid approach is considered for interacting CRs with gravitating, magnetized, and thermally conducting gas in molecular clouds. The magnetohydrodynamic fluid model is formulated considering CR pressure gradients, CR diffusion, and radiative and FLR effects in terms of particle Larmor radius. The dispersion relation of the gravitational instability is analytically derived using the normal mode analysis, and the effects of CRs and FLR corrections have been discussed in longitudinal and transverse modes. It is observed that in the absence of CRs, the FLR effects (magnetic viscosity) reduce the growth rate for wavenumber smaller than a critical value, and above it gets increased. However, the growth rate is strongly suppressed in the presence of combined CRs and FLR effects. The individual behaviour of FLR effects is observed to destabilize the growth rate of the gravitational instability in the presence of CR effects. The CR pressure decreases the growth rates of the gravitational and thermal instabilities, whereas parallel CR diffusion enhances the growth rate of the gravitational instability. The Jeans length of the gravitating gas cloud gets increased due to an increase in the CR-to-gas pressure ratio. It is found that the gravitational collapse of the system is supported by high-energy (above knee) CR particles with the Larmor radii comparable to the cloud size. The present results have been applied to understand the role of CRs and FLR corrections on the gravitational collapse in the H ii regions of molecular clouds.

Laminar Fluid Mixing in Micromixers: Description of Pull‐Push Effects

AbstractA numerical study was performed on laminar mixing of fluids by means of embedded microbarriers against the flow direction in two three‐dimensional T‐micromixers. Two microchannels with different obstacle arrangements were considered, and the effect of volumetric flow rate Q on two‐stream pull‐push motion was investigated. With increasing Q and distance of the barriers to the sidewalls K, different vortices and fluid movement patterns develop in the two micromixers. Maximum mass transfer is obtained for the micromixer with smaller K value. With decreasing K, pull‐push movement strongly affects fluid merging, and the quality of mixing increases. Moreover, the effect of fluid tortuosity was studied, and a direct relationship between hydrodynamic fluid tortuosity and mass transfer was found.

Fluctuating hydrodynamics of chiral active fluids

Active materials are characterized by continuous injection of energy at the microscopic level and typically cannot be adequately described by equilibrium thermodynamics. Here we study a class of active fluids in which equilibrium-like properties emerge when fluctuating and activated degrees of freedom are statistically decoupled, such that their mutual information is negligible. We analyse three paradigmatic systems: chiral active fluids composed of spinning frictional particles that are free to translate, oscillating granular gases and active Brownian rollers. In all of these systems, a single effective temperature generated by activity parameterizes both the equation of state and the emergent Boltzmann statistics. The same effective temperature, renormalized by velocity correlations, relates viscosities to steady-state stress fluctuations via a Green–Kubo relation. To rationalize these observations, we develop a theory for the fluctuating hydrodynamics of these non-equilibrium fluids and validate it through large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. Our work sheds light on the microscopic origin of odd viscosities and stress fluctuations characteristic of parity-violating fluids, in which mirror symmetry and detailed balance are broken. Active fluids exhibit properties reminiscent of equilibrium systems when their degrees of freedom are statistically decoupled. A theory for the fluctuating hydrodynamics of these fluids offers a probe of their anomalous transport coefficients.

Mechanistic Models for USP2 Dissolution Apparatus, Including Fluid Hydrodynamics and Sedimentation

Drug product dissolution is a key input to Physiologically Based Biopharmaceutics Models (PBBM) to be able to predict in vivo dissolution. The integration of product dissolution in PBBMs for immediate release drug products should be mechanistic, i.e. allow to capture the main determinants of the in vitro dissolution experiment, and extract product batch specific parameter(s). This work focussed on the Product Particle Size Distribution (P-PSD), which was previously shown to integrate the effect of dose, volume, solubility (pH), size and concentration of micelles in the calculation of a batch specific input to PBBMs, and proposed new hydrodynamic (HD) models, which integrate the effect of USP2 apparatus paddle rotation speed and medium viscosity on dissolution. In addition, new models are also proposed to estimate the quantitative impact of formulation and drug sedimentation or “coning” on dissolution. Model “HDC-1” predicts coning in the presence of formulation insoluble excipients and “HDC-2” predicts the sedimentation of the drug substance only. These models were parameterized and validated on 166 dissolution experiments and 18 different drugs. The validation showed that the HD model average fold errors (AFE) for dissolution rate prediction of immediate release formulations, is comprised between 0.85 and 1.15, and the absolute average fold errors (AAFE) are comprised between 1.08 and 1.28, which shows satisfactory predictive power. For experiments where coning was suspected, the HDC-1 model improved the precision of the prediction (defined as ratio of “AAFE-1”values) by 2.46 fold compared to HD model. The calculation of a P-PSD integrating the impact of USP2 paddle rotation, medium viscosity and coning, will improve the PBBM predictions, since these parameters could have an influence on in vitro dissolution, and could open the way to better prediction of the effect of prandial state on human exposure, by developing new in silico tools which could integrate variation of velocity profiles due to the chyme viscosity.

Scale attachment and detachment: The role of hydrodynamics and surface morphology

Crystallization fouling presents a significant challenge in a wide range of industries. Accurate understanding of crystal formation is crucial for planning preventative measures and maximizing the effectiveness of maintenance interventions. In this study, we demonstrate that understanding net deposition rates depends on the knowledge of the detachment mechanisms and deposition distribution characteristics. We quantify deposition in a once-through flow set-up and visualize crystal formation through high-resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography scanning. Additionally, we quantify the height distribution of deposited crystals through computed surface texture parameters. Finally, we use computational fluid dynamics, implementing large-eddy simulations turbulence modelling and Eulerian transport of chemical species, to describe bulk and wall reactions and quantify energy and mass transport in turbulent eddies. Results show that attachment and detachment processes depend on fluid hydrodynamics; the influx of material determines the overall deposition to the surface, while the deposition pattern is governed by the surface morphology of the initial surface morphology. Our findings provide a foundation for understanding fouling mechanisms and present a template for developing more accurate prediction models.

Theoretical Study of influence of MHD in an infinitely long rough Porous Journal Bearing

Analytical study of porous rough journal bearing with magneto hydrodynamic fluid in the presence of longitudinal and transverse roughness is investigated. Surface roughness effect is studied by using Christensen stochastic theory. The generalized Reynolds equations for both types of roughness patterns are derived. Reynolds boundary conditions are used to study the characteristics of infinitely long journal bearing. Cavitation angle is obtained by using bisection method. The expressions for pressure, load carrying capacity and attitude angle are obtained. The results are shown in the graph for longitudinal roughness pattern and concluded that, load carrying capacity increases for the increasing values of Hartmann number.