Related papers: Fluid-induced snap-through instability of spherica…
Rotating the clamped ends of a buckled elastica induces a snap-through instability. Predicting the limit point and determining the equilibria at the start and end of the snap are routine computations in the quasi-static setting. The…
Fluid-structure interactions are ubiquitous in nature and technology. However, the systems are often so complex that numerical simulations or ad hoc assumptions must be used to gain insight into the details of the complex interactions…
We study the buckling of a clamped beam immersed in a creeping flow within a rectangular channel. Via a combination of precision experiments, simulations, and theoretical modeling, we show how the instability depends on a pressure feedback…
Microswimmers, and among them aspirant microrobots, generally have to cope with flows where viscous forces are dominant, characterized by a low Reynolds number ($Re$). This implies constraints on the possible sequences of body motion, which…
Liquid shells (e.g. double emulsions, vesicles etc.) are susceptible to interfacial instability and rupturing when driven out of mechanical equilibrium. This poses a significant challenge for the design of liquid shell based micro-machines,…
A pinned-free beam in axial fluid flow, subjected to feedback-based actuation at the pinned end, is investigated. The actuation may be a moment or a prescribed angle and it is proportional to the state (curvature, slope, or displacement) of…
We demonstrate the passive control of viscous flow in a channel by using an elastic arch embedded in the flow. Depending on the fluid flux, the arch may `snap' between two states --- constricting and unconstricting --- that differ in…
A theoretical and experimental study of the spin-over mode induced by the elliptical instability of a flow contained in a slightly deformed rotating spherical shell is presented. This geometrical configuration mimics the liquid rotating…
We report on the capillary-induced snapping of elastic beams. We show that a millimeter-sized water drop gently deposited on a thin buckled polymer strip may trigger an elastocapillary snap-through instability. We investigate experimentally…
We study the bendocapillary instability of a liquid droplet that part fills a flexible walled channel. Inspired by experiments in which a `weaving' pattern emerges as droplets of liquid are condensed slowly into deformable microchannels, we…
Volatile viscous fluids on partially-wetting solid substrates can exhibit interesting interfacial instabilities and pattern formation. We study the dynamics of vapor condensation and fluid evaporation governed by a one-sided model in a low…
Viscoelastic fluids exhibit elastic instabilities in simple shear flow and flow through curved streamlines. Surprisingly, we found in a porous medium such fluids show strikingly different hydrodynamic instabilities depicted by very large…
The dynamics and stability of a fluid-filled hollow cylindrical shell rolling on an inclined plane are analyzed. We study the motion in two dimensions by analyzing the interaction between the fluid and the cylindrical shell. An analytical…
We experimentally investigate the flow of a viscoelastic fluid in a parallel shear geometry at low Reynolds number. As the flow becomes unstable via a nonlinear subcritical instability, velocimetry measurements show non-periodic…
This paper explores the fluid-elastic response of a cantilevered flexible sheet in the presence of uniform airflow. The leading edge of the sheet is clamped, while at the trailing edge, in-plane tension is applied to provide additional…
This study examines the stability of a flexible material interface between two fluids of the same viscosity in interaction with a free surface. When the layers are motionless, we provide evidence for the onset of a novel instability by…
We combine experiments with simulations to investigate the fluid-structure interaction of a flexible helical rod rotating in a viscous fluid, under low Reynolds number conditions. Our analysis takes into account the coupling between the…
Microfluidic systems are usually fabricated with soft materials that deform due to the fluid stresses. Recent experimental and theoretical studies on the steady flow in shallow deformable microchannels have shown that the flow rate is a…
The paper considers a two-dimensional flow in a channel, which consists of straight inlet and outlet branches and a circularly 90-degree curved bend. An incompressible viscous fluid flows through the elbow under the action of a constant…
We study low Reynolds number turbulence in a suspension of polar, extensile, self-propelled inertial swimmers. We review the bend and splay mechanisms that destabilize an ordered flock. The suspension is always unstable to bend…