Classical fluid dynamics confronts modern research questions

Time: Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Type: Seminar Series
Presenter: Howard Stone, Princeton University
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Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Seminar Series

Seminars are held weekly on Wednesday at 2:30 PM. Please contact Diana Qiu, Amir Pahlavan, or Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio with speaker suggestions.

September 15, 2021

"Classical fluid dynamics confronts modern research questions"
Howard Stone
Princeton University

Abstract: I will discuss two recent projects in my group where we identify new analytical features of flows common to experiments and industrial applications. First, I consider the drainage of a liquid film on a vertical substrate of finite width. We measured experimentally the film shape near the edge, which is a function of time and two space variables. Analysis of the corresponding thin-film equation shows that there is a similarity solution, collapsing three independent variables to one similarity variable, so that the PDE becomes an ODE. This novel similarity solution is in excellent agreement with the experimental measurements.

Second I consider pressure-driven flow of non-Newtonian or viscoelastic fluids in spatially varying, but narrow, geometries. These problems are normally treated numerically but we describe an approach that yields new analytical results. Again, the analytical predictions are compared (favorably) with experimental results. If there is time, I will share some of our work on fluid dynamics themes related to virus transmission by speech.

Short bio: Howard Stone is the Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor and Department Chair in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. Professor Stone's research interests are in fluid dynamics, especially as they arise in research and applications at the interface of engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology. He is past Chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the APS and is currently a Councilor of the APS. In addition, currently he is an Associate Editor of Physical Review Fluids and co-editor of the Soft Matter Book Series.

Available to meet for meetings 1-5:30.