No Arabic abstract
It is known that an object translating parallel to a soft wall in a viscous fluid produces hydro- dynamic stresses that deform the wall, which, in turn, results in a lift force on the object. Recent experiments with cylinders sliding under gravity near a soft incline, which confirmed theoretical arguments for the lift force, also reported an unexplained steady-state rotation of the cylinders [Saintyves et al. PNAS 113(21), 2016]. Motivated by these observations, we show, in the lubrication limit, that an infinite cylinder that translates in a viscous fluid parallel to a soft wall at constant speed and separation distance must also rotate in order to remain free of torque. Using the Lorentz reciprocal theorem, we show analytically that for small deformations of the elastic layer, the angular velocity of the cylinder scales with the cube of the sliding speed. These predictions are confirmed numerically. We then apply the theory to the gravity-driven motion of a cylinder near a soft incline and find qualitative agreement with the experimental observations, namely that a softer elastic layer results in a greater angular speed of the cylinder.
The emerging field of self-driven active particles in fluid environments has recently created significant interest in the biophysics and bioengineering communities owing to their promising future biomedical and technological applications. These microswimmers move autonomously through aqueous media where under realistic situations they encounter a plethora of external stimuli and confining surfaces with peculiar elastic properties. Based on a far-field hydrodynamic model, we present an analytical theory to describe the physical interaction and hydrodynamic couplings between a self-propelled active microswimmer and an elastic interface that features resistance toward shear and bending. We model the active agent as a superposition of higher-order Stokes singularities and elucidate the associated translational and rotational velocities induced by the nearby elastic boundary. Our results show that the velocities can be decomposed in shear and bending related contributions which approach the velocities of active agents close to a no-slip rigid wall in the steady limit. The transient dynamics predict that contributions to the velocities of the microswimmer due to bending resistance are generally more pronounced than to shear resistance. Our results provide insight into the control and guidance of artificial and synthetic self-propelling active microswimmers near elastic confinements.
We analyze the primitive variables of fluid flow and scalar fields through fast Fourier transform (FFT) in the near and far wake of an elliptic cylinder. Numerical simulation of flow and scalar fields behind an elliptic cylinder of axis ratio 0.4 at a Reynolds number of 130 is performed. The semi-major axis of the elliptic cylinder is kept perpendicular to the incoming flow, where the fluid flow is two-dimensional and the Prandtl number is 0.71. The scalar is injected into the flow field by means of heating the cylinder continuously. The simulation is run for a long time to show that the secondary vortex street is a time-dependent phenomenon. Three distinguishable flow and scalar regions are observed in the wake of the cylinder. This study reveals the presence of low-frequency structures besides the primary shedding structures in linear, transition and saturation regions of temporal wake development. We show that the spectral source of the primary frequency is the saturated state of the temporal wake development, while its physical source is the periodic arrangement of structures of primitive variables, which inhibits the transmutation of their wavelength. On the other hand, the secondary low frequency is embedded in the transitional developing stage of the wake and its physical source is the chaotic behaviour of the transition process, which aids in the transmutation of the wavelength of the structures. Our spectral analysis also reveals that the scalar is predominately carried by the streamwise velocity and the pressure throughout the wake.
In this report we formulate and analyse a mathematical model describing the evolution of a thin liquid film coating a wire via an extrusion process. We consider the Navier-Stokes equations for a 2D incompressible Newtonian fluid coupled to the standard equation relating the fluid surface tension with the curvature. Taking the lubrication theory approximation and assuming steady state, the problem is reduced to a single third-order differential equation for the thin film height. An approximate analytical solution for the final film height is derived and compared with a numerical solution obtained by means of a shooting scheme. Good agreement between the two solutions is obtained, resulting in a relative error of around 5%. The approximate solution reveals that the key control parameters for the process are the initial film height, the fluid surface tension and viscosity, the wire velocity and the angle of exit at the extruder.
A cylinder undergoes precession when it rotates around its axis and this axis itself rotates around another direction. In a precessing cylinder full of fluid, a steady and axisymmetric component of the azimuthal flow is generally present. This component is called a zonal flow. Although zonal flows have been often observed in experiments and numerical simulations, their origin has eluded theoretical approaches so far. Here, we develop an asymptotic analysis to calculate the zonal flow forced in a resonant precessing cylinder, that is when the harmonic response is dominated by a single Kelvin mode. We find that the zonal flow originates from three different sources: (1) the nonlinear interaction of the inviscid Kelvin mode with its viscous correction; (2) the steady and axisymmetric response to the nonlinear interaction of the Kelvin mode with itself; and (3) the nonlinear interactions in the end boundary layers. In a precessing cylinder, two additional sources arise due to the equatorial Coriolis force and the forced shear flow. However, they cancel exactly. The study thus generalises to any Kelvin mode, forced by precession or any other mechanism. The present theoretical predictions of the zonal flow are confirmed by comparison with numerical simulations and experimental results. We also show numerically that the zonal flow is always retrograde in a resonant precessing cylinder (m=1) or when it results from resonant Kelvin modes of azimuthal wavenumbers m=2, 3, and presumably higher.
We consider the deposition of a film of viscous liquid on a flat plate being withdrawn from a bath, experimentally and theoretically. For any plate speed $U$, there is a range of ``thick film solutions whose thickness scales like $U^{1/2}$ for small $U$. These solutions are realized for a partially wetting liquid, while for a perfectly wetting liquid the classical Landau-Levich-Derjaguin (LLD) film is observed, whose thickness scales like $U^{2/3}$. The thick film is distinguished from the LLD film by a dip in its spatial profile at the transition to the bath. We calculate the phase diagram for the existence of stationary film solutions as well as the film profiles, and find excellent agreement with experiment.