Related papers: Tuning flow asymmetry with bio-inspired soft leafl…

By means of mesoscopic numerical simulations of a model soft-glassy material, we investigate the role of boundary roughness on the flow behaviour of the material, probing the bulk/wall and global/local rheologies. We show that the roughness…

Soft matters whose constituents are deformable are ubiquitous in nature especially in biological systems-including cells and their organelles-as well as in foams and emulsions. The capacity for deformation in these soft materials gives rise…

The motion of soft-glassy materials (SGM) in a confined geometry is strongly impacted by surface roughness. However, the effect of the spatial distribution of the roughness remains poorly understood from a more quantitative viewpoint. Here…

Superhydrophobic one-dimensional surfaces reduce drag and generate transverse hydrodynamic phenomena by combining hydrophobicity and roughness to trap gas bubbles in microscopic textures. Recent works in this area have focused on specific…

Biological systems rely on autonomous modes of charge transport to transmit signals, whereas conventional artificial systems typically depend on external fields, such as voltage or pressure gradients, limiting their adaptability. Here we…

Channel formation and branching is widely seen in physical systems where movement of fluid through a porous structure causes the spatiotemporal evolution of the medium in response to the flow, in turn causing flow pathways to evolve. We…

We introduce a new concept for the manipulation of fluid flow around three-dimensional bodies. Inspired by transformation optics, the concept is based on a mathematical idea of coordinate transformations and physically implemented with…

We use a one dimensional symmetric exclusion model to study pressure and osmosis driven flows through molecular-sized channels, such as biological membrane channels and zeolite pores. Analytic expressions are found for the steady-state flow…

Natural cilia are hair-like microtubule-based structures that are able to move fluid at low Reynolds number through asymmetric motion. In this paper we follow a biomimetic approach to design artificial cilia lining the inner surface of…

Deformation due to embedded fluidic networks is currently studied in the context of soft-actuators and soft-robotics. Expanding on this concept, beams can be designed so that the pressure in the channel-network is created directly from…

Understanding and controlling the dynamic interactions between fluid flows and solid materials and structures-a field known as fluid-structure interaction -is central not only to established disciplines such as aerospace and naval…

In this paper, we present a framework for multiscale topology optimization of fluid-flow devices. The objective is to minimize dissipated power, subject to a desired contact-area. The proposed strategy is to design optimal microstructures…

We simulate a phase-separating a bilayer in which the leaflets experience a direct coupling favouring local compositional symmetry ("registered" bilayer phases), and an indirect coupling due to hydrophobic mismatch that favours strong local…

Controlling the mechanical response of soft glassy materials, such as emulsions, foams, and colloidal suspensions, is key for many industrial processes. While their steady-state flow behavior is reasonably well understood, their response to…

Viscous streaming is an efficient mechanism to exploit inertia at the microscale for flow control. While streaming from rigid features has been thoroughly investigated, when body compliance is involved, as in biological settings, little is…

Recent work on self-organized remodeling of vasculature in slime-mold, leaf venation systems and vessel systems in vertebrates has put forward a plethora of potential adaptation mechanisms. All these share the underlying hypothesis of a…

The optical properties of liquid crystals serve as the basis for display, diagnostic, and sensing technologies. Such properties are generally controlled by relying on electric fields. In this work, we investigate the effects of microfluidic…

Soft bodies flowing in a channel often exhibit parachute-like shapes usually attributed to an increase of hydrodynamic constraint (viscous stress and/or confinement). We show that the presence of a fluid membrane leads to the reverse…

Stimuli-responsive materials that modify their shape in response to changes in environmental conditions -- such as solute concentration, temperature, pH, and stress -- are widespread in nature and technology. Applications include micro- and…

Biological systems achieve precise control over ambient fluids through the self-organization of active protein structures including flagella, cilia, and cytoskeletal networks. In active structures individual proteins consume chemical energy…