Browsing by Author "Biancofiore, Luca"

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Open Access
A numerical algorithm to model wall slip and cavitation in two-dimensional hydrodynamically lubricated contacts
(Elsevier Ltd, 2023-03-23) Çam, Mert Yusuf; Giacopini, M.; Dini, D.; Biancofiore, Luca
Hydrodynamic lubrication takes a fundamental role in mechanical systems to reduce energy losses and prevent mechanical breakdown. The analytic instrument usually adopted to describe hydrodynamic lubrication is the Reynolds equation, which in its simplest statement for monophase lubricants and with assuming no fluid slip at the walls, is a linear equation in the hydrodynamic pressure. However, this classical linear Reynolds equation cannot reflect all the lubricant characteristics in engineered surfaces (e.g. superhydro(oleo)phobic surfaces and textured surfaces). In these cases, the effect of two critical factors, such as wall slip and cavitation, need to be considered, introducing non-linearities in the system. In order to tackle this issue, a modified two-dimensional Reynolds equation is introduced, able to capture both the cavitation presence, via a complementary mass-conserving model, and wall slippage, starting from the multi-linearity description introduced by Ma et al. (2007). In addition, an alternative model for the slippage at the wall is proposed by modifying the multi-linearity wall slip model to improve accuracy and computational cost. In this new model, the possible slip directions are limited to three, separated by equal angles, with the slip occurring only along the first direction, and the other directions, then, used to iteratively adjust the direction of slippage, until a suitable convergence criterion is satisfied. The proposed mathematical model is validated versus results available in literature with tests performed on (i) journal bearings, (ii) slider bearings, (iii) squeeze dampers, and (iv) surface textured bearings. By conducting these tests, the proposed alternative wall slip model is proved to be up to one order of magnitude more computational efficient than the original multi-linearity wall slip model.
Open Access
Clustering of Janus particles in an optical potential driven by hydrodynamic fluxes
(Digital Library, 2021-08-01) Callegari, Agnese; Mousavi, S. Masoumeh; Kasianiuk, Iryna; Kasyanyuk, Denis; Velu, Sabareesh K. P.; Biancofiore, Luca; Volpe, Giovanni
Self-organisation is driven by the interactions between the individual components of a system mediated by the environment, and is one of the most important strategies used by many biological systems to develop complex and functional structures. Furthermore, biologically-inspired self-organisation offers opportunities to develop the next generation of materials and devices for electronics, photonics and nanotechnology. In this work, we demonstrate experimentally that a system of Janus particles (silica microspheres half-coated with gold) aggregates into clusters in the presence of a Gaussian optical potential and disaggregates when the optical potential is switched off. We show that the underlying mechanism is the existence of a hydrodynamic flow induced by a temperature gradient generated by the light absorption at the metallic patches on the Janus particles. We also perform simulations, which agree well with the experiments and whose results permit us to clarify the underlying mechanism. The possibility of hydrodynamic-flux-induced reversible clustering may have applications in the fields of drug delivery, cargo transport, bioremediation and biopatterning.
Open Access
Clustering of Janus particles in an optical potential driven by hydrodynamic fluxes
(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019-06) Mousavi, S. Masoumeh; Kasianiuk, Iryna; Kasyanyuk, Denis; Velu, Sabareesh K. P.; Callegari, Agnese; Biancofiore, Luca; Volpe, Giovanni
Self-organisation is driven by the interactions between the individual components of a system mediated by the environment, and is one of the most important strategies used by many biological systems to develop complex and functional structures. Furthermore, biologically-inspired self-organisation offers opportunities to develop the next generation of materials and devices for electronics, photonics and nanotechnology. In this work, we demonstrate experimentally that a system of Janus particles (silica microspheres half-coated with gold) aggregates into clusters in the presence of a Gaussian optical potential and disaggregates when the optical potential is switched off. We show that the underlying mechanism is the existence of a hydrodynamic flow induced by a temperature gradient generated by the light absorption at the metallic patches on the Janus particles. We also perform simulations, which agree well with the experiments and whose results permit us to clarify the underlying mechanism. The possibility of hydrodynamic-flux-induced reversible clustering may have applications in the fields of drug delivery, cargo transport, bioremediation and biopatterning.
Open Access
A critical microscopic engine in an optical tweezers
(OSA, 2018) Schmidt, F.; Magazzù, Agnese; Callegari, A.; Biancofiore, Luca; Cichos, F.; Volpe, G.
An optically trapped absorbing microsphere in a sub-critical mixture rotates around the optical trap thanks to diffusiophoretic propulsion, which can be controlled by adjusting the optical power, the temperature, and the criticality of the mixture.
Open Access
The effect of fluid viscoelasticity in lubricated contacts in the presence of cavitation
(Elsevier, 2021-03-27) Gamaniel, Samuel Shari; Dini, D.; Biancofiore, Luca
In this work we study the influence of fluid viscoelasticity on the performance of lubricated contacts in the presence of cavitation. Several studies of viscoelastic lubricants have been carried out, but none of them have considered the possibility of the presence of cavitation. To describe the effect of viscoelasticity, we use the Oldroyd-B model. By assuming that the product between ϵ, i.e. the ratio between vertical and horizontal length scales, and the Weissenberg number (Wi), i.e. the ratio between polymer relaxation time and flow time scale, is small, we can linearise the viscoelastic thin film equations, following the approach pioneered by "Tichy, J., 1996, Non-Newtonian lubrication with the convected Maxwell model." Consequently, the zeroth-order in ϵWi corresponds to a Reynolds equation modified to describe also the film cavitation through the mass-conserving Elrod-Adams model. We consider the flow of viscoelastic lubricants using: (i) a cosine profile representing a journal bearing unwrapped geometry, and (ii) a pocketed profile to model a textured surface in lubricated contacts. The introduction of viscoelasticity decreases the length of cavitated region in the cosine profile due to the increasing pressure distribution within the film. Consequently, the load carrying capacity increases with Wi by up to 50% in the most favorable condition, confirming the beneficial influence of the polymers in bearings. On the other hand for the pocketed profile, results show that the load can increase or decrease at higher Wi depending on the texture position in the contact. The squeeze flow problem between two plates is also modeled for viscoelastic lubricants considering an oscillating top surface. For this configuration a load reduction is observed with increasing Wi due to the additional time needed to reform the film at high Wi. Furthermore, if viscoelastic effects increase, the cavitation region widens until reaching a value of Wi for which a full-film reformation does not occur after the initial film rupture.
Open Access
Interplay between wall slip and cavitation: a complementary variable approach
(Elsevier, 2019) Biancofiore, Luca; Giacopini, M.; Dini, D.
In this work a stable and reliable numerical model based on complementary variables is developed to study lubricated contacts characterised by slip at one or both surfaces and in the presence of cavitation. This model can be used to predict surface behaviour when cavitation induced by e.g. the presence of surface texture, slip, or a combination of the two is encountered, with varying surface parameters. For this purpose, two different algorithms are coupled to predict the formation of cavitation, through a mass-conserving formulation, and the presence of slip at the wall. The possible slippage is described by a limiting shear criterion formulated using a Tresca model. To show the flexibility of our model, several bearing geometries have been analysed, such as a twin parabolic slider, a cosine profile used to mimic a bearing, and a pocketed slider bearing employed to study the effect of surface texture. We observe that the lubrication performance (i.e. low friction coefficient) can be improved by using materials that promote slippage at the moving wall. The location of the slippage region can be optimised to find the lowest value of friction coefficient. Our theoretical developments and numerical implementation are shown to produce useful guidelines to improve and optimise the design of textured superoleophobic surfaces in the presence of lubricated contacts.
Open Access
Linear and nonlinear stability of a quasigeostrophic mixing layer subject to a uniform background shear
(American Physical Society, 2019) Biancofiore, Luca; Umurhan, O. M.
The aim of this work is to shed light by revisiting, from the kernel-wave (KW) perspective, the breakdown of a quasigeostrophic (QG) mixing layer (or vortex strip or filament) in atmosphere under the influence of a background shear. The QG mixing layer is modeled with a family of quasi-Rayleigh velocity profiles in which the potential vorticity (PV) is constant in patches. From the KW perspective, a counterpropagating Rossby wave (CRW) is created at each PV edge, i.e., the edge where a PV jump is located. The important parameters of our study are (i) the vorticity of the uniform shear m and (ii) the Rossby deformation radius Ld, which indicates how far the pressure perturbations can vertically propagate. While an adverse shear (m<0) stabilizes the system, a favorable shear (m>0) strengthens the instability. This is due to how the background shear affects the two uncoupled CRWs by shifting the optimal phase difference towards large (small) wave number when m<0 (m>0). As a finite Ld is introduced, a general weakening of the instability is noticed, particularly for m>0. This is mainly due to the reduced interaction between the two CRWs when Ld is finite. Furthermore, nonlinear pseudospectral simulations in the nominally infinite-Reynolds-number limit were conducted using as the initial base flow the same quasi-Rayleigh profiles analyzed in the linear analysis. The growth of the mixing layer is obstructed by introducing a background shear, especially if adverse, since the vortex pairing, which is the main growth mechanism in mixing layers, is strongly hindered. Interestingly, the most energetic configuration is for m=0, which differs from the linear analyses for which the largest growth rates were found for a positive m. In the absence of a background shear additional modes are subharmonically triggered by the initial disturbance enhancing the turbulent character of the flow. We also confirm energy spectrum trends for broken-down mixing layers reported in the literature. We interpret the character of mixing-layer breakdown as being a phenomenological hybrid of Kraichnan's [R. H. Kraichnan, Phys. Fluids 10, 1417 (1967)] direct enstrophy cascade picture and the picture of self-similar vortex production.
Open Access
Linear stability analysis of evaporating falling liquid films
(Elsevier, 2020) Mohamed, Hammam; Biancofiore, Luca
We consider the linear stability of evaporating thin films falling down an inclined plate. The one sided-model presented first by “Burelbach, J.P., Bankoff, S.G., Davis, S.H., 1988, Nonlinear stability of evaporating/condensing liquid films, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 195, 463–494. ” was implemented to decouple the dynamics of the liquid than those of the vapor at the interface, at which the evaporation is modeled based on a thermal equilibrium approach. We consider the base state solution derived by “Joo, S., Davis, S.H., Bankoff, S., 1991, Long-wave instabilities of heated falling films: two-dimensional theory of uniform layers, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 230, 117–146. ” which is based on the slow evaporation assumption. In previous works, only low dimensional models. i.e. the long wave theory, have been analysed for evaporating liquid films. Conversely in this paper, we extend the Orr-Sommerfeld eigenvalue problem for a film falling down a heated wall to include evaporation effects namely, vapor recoil and mass loss. As expected, we observe that the long wave theory fails in predicting the correct behavior when the inertia is strong or the wavenumber k is large. We confirm that the instability induced by vapor recoil (E-mode) behaves in a similar fashion to the instability due to the thermocapillary effect (S-mode). Both the S-mode and the E-mode can enhance each other, specially, at low Reynolds numbers Re. Moreover, we examine the perturbation energy budget to have an insight into the instabilities mechanism. We show that the presence of evaporation adds a new term corresponding to the work done by vapor recoil at the interface (VRE). We also find that the main contributor to the perturbation kinetic energy in the unstable E-mode is the work done by shear stress while VRE is negligible, unless Re << 1. Simpler analytical expressions of the energy balance terms near the instability threshold are obtained by using a long wave approximation.
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Microscopic engine powered by critical demixing
(American Physical Society, 2018) Schmidt, F.; Magazzù, A.; Callegari, Agnese; Biancofiore, Luca; Cichos, F.; Volpe, G.
We experimentally demonstrate a microscopic engine powered by the local reversible demixing of a critical mixture. We show that, when an absorbing microsphere is optically trapped by a focused laser beam in a subcritical mixture, it is set into rotation around the optical axis of the beam because of the emergence of diffusiophoretic propulsion. This behavior can be controlled by adjusting the optical power, the temperature, and the criticality of the mixture.
Open Access
Microscopic engine powered by critical demixing
(OSA, 2017) Schmidt, F.; Magazzu, Alessandro; Callegari, Agnese; Biancofiore, Luca; Cichos, F.; Volpe, Giovanni
We propose a new type of engine that is powered by the local, reversible demixing of a critical binary liquid. A microscopic particle is optically trapped and performs revolutions due to the emergence of diffusiophoresis.
Open Access
A modified viscosity approach for shear thinning lubricants
(AIP Publishing LLC, 2022-10-04) Humayun, Ahmed; Biancofiore, Luca
Lubrication is essential to minimize wear and friction between contacting surfaces in relative motion. Oil based lubricants are often enhanced via polymer additives to minimize self-degradation due to the shear thinning effect. Therefore, an accurate estimate of the load carrying capacity of the thin lubricating film requires careful modeling of shear thinning. Available models such as the generalized Reynolds equation (GR) and the approximate shear distribution have drawbacks such as large computational time and poor accuracy, respectively. In this work, we present a new approach, i.e., the modified viscosity (MV) model, based on calculating the strain rate only in one point along the vertical direction. We investigate, for both MV and GR, the load, the maximum pressure, and the computational time for (i) sliding (non-cavitating) contacts, (ii) cavitating, and (iii) squeezing contacts. We observe that the computational time is reduced (i) considerably for non-cavitating sliding and rolling contacts and (ii) by several orders of magnitudes for cavitating and squeezing contacts. Furthermore, the accuracy of MV is comparable with the GR model within an appreciable range of bearing numbers. Finally, for each type of boundary motion, we have determined the optimal vertical location to calculate the shear strain rate for MV; while this optimal value is close to half the height of the contact for sliding configurations, for rolling dominated and squeezing contacts it is around one quarter (or three quarter) of their height. We finally provide an analysis to a priori estimate the optimal location of the strain rate.
Open Access
Motility-induced shear thickening in dense colloidal suspensions
(The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023-06-07) Bayram, A. Gülce; Schwarzendahl, F. J.; Löwen, H.; Biancofiore, Luca
Phase transitions and collective dynamics of active colloidal suspensions are fascinating topics in soft matter physics, particularly for out-of-equilibrium systems, which can lead to rich rheological behaviours in the presence of steady shear flow. Here the role of self-propulsion in the rheological response of a dense colloidal suspension is investigated by using particle-resolved Brownian dynamics simulations. First, the combined effect of activity and shear in the solid on the disordering transition of the suspension is analyzed. While both self-propulsion and shear destroy order and melt the system if critical values are exceeded, self-propulsion largely lowers the stress barrier needed to be overcome during the transition. We further explore the rheological response of the active sheared system once a steady state is reached. While passive suspensions show a solid-like behaviour, turning on particle motility fluidises the system. At low self-propulsion, the active suspension behaves in the steady state as a shear-thinning fluid. Increasing the self-propulsion changes the behaviour of the liquid from shear-thinning to shear-thickening. We attribute this to clustering in the sheared suspensions induced by motility. This new phenomenon of motility-induced shear thickening (MIST) can be used to tailor the rheological response of colloidal suspensions.
Open Access
A new approach for modeling viscoelastic thin film lubrication
(Elsevier BV, 2021-03-27) Biancofiore, Luca; Ahmed, Humayun
Lubricants can exhibit significant viscoelastic effects due to the addition of high molecular weight polymers. The overall behavior of the mixture is vastly different from a simpler Newtonian fluid. Therefore, understating the influence of viscoelasticity on the load carrying capacity of the film is essential for lubricated contacts. A new modeling technique based on lubrication theory is proposed to take into account viscoelastic effects. As a result, we obtain a modified equation for the pressure, i.e. the viscoelastic Reynolds (VR) equation. We have first examined a parabolic slider to mimic a roller bearing configuration. An increase of the load carrying capacity is observed when polymers are added to the lubricant. Furthermore, our results are compared with existing models based on the lubrication approximation and direct numerical simulations (DNS). For small Weissenberg number (), i.e. the ratio between the polymer relaxation time and the residence time scale, VR predicts the same pressure of the linearized model, in which is the perturbation parameter ( is the ratio between the vertical length scale and the horizontal length scale). However, the difference grows rapidly as viscoelastic effects become stronger. Excellent quantitative and qualitative agreement is observed between DNS and our model over small to moderate Weissenberg number. While DNS is numerically unstable at high values of the Weissenberg number, VR does not have the same issue allowing to capture the evolution of the stress and pressure also when the viscoelastic effects are strong. It is shown that even in high shear flows, normal stresses have the largest impact on load carrying capacity and thus cannot be neglected. Furthermore, the additional pressure due to viscoelasticity comprises two components, the first one due to the normal stress and the second one due to the shear stress. Afterwards, the methodology used for the parabolic slider is extended to a plane slider where, instead, the load decreases by adding polymers to the fluid. In particular, under the effect of the polymers surface slopes enhance the rate at which pressure gradients increase, whereas curvature opposes this along the contact. Therefore, the increase of the load carrying capacity observed for viscoelastic lubricants is due to its shape close to the inlet, which is steeper than the plane slider.
Open Access
Optically driven janus microengine with full orbital motion control
(American Chemical Society, 2023-09-20) Bronte Ciriza, D.; Callegari, A.; Donato, M. G.; Çiçek, Berk; Magazzù, A.; Kasianiuk, Iryna; Kasyanyuk, Denis; Schmidt, F.; Foti, A.; Gucciardi, P. G.; Volpe, G.; Lanza, M.; Biancofiore, Luca; Maragò, O. M.
Microengines have shown promise for a variety of applications in nanotechnology, microfluidics, and nanomedicine, including targeted drug delivery, microscale pumping, and environmental remediation. However, achieving precise control over their dynamics remains a significant challenge. In this study, we introduce a microengine that exploits both optical and thermal effects to achieve a high degree of controllability. We find that in the presence of a strongly focused light beam, a gold-silica Janus particle becomes confined at the stationary point where the optical and thermal forces balance. By using circularly polarized light, we can transfer angular momentum to the particle, breaking the symmetry between the two forces and resulting in a tangential force that drives directed orbital motion. We can simultaneously control the velocity and direction of rotation of the particle changing the ellipticity of the incoming light beam while tuning the radius of the orbit with laser power. Our experimental results are validated using a geometrical optics phenomenological model that considers the optical force, the absorption of optical power, and the resulting heating of the particle. The demonstrated enhanced flexibility in the control of microengines opens up new possibilities for their utilization in a wide range of applications, including microscale transport, sensing, and actuation.
Open Access
Rossby waves in astrophysics
(Springer, 2021-01-19) Zaqarashvili, T. V.; Albekioni, M.; Ballester, J. L.; Bekki, Y.; Biancofiore, Luca; Birch, A. C.; Dikpati, M.; Gizon, L.; Gurgenashvili, E.; Heifetz, E.; Lanza, A. F.; McIntosh, S. W.; Ofman, L.; Oliver, R.; Proxauf, B.; Umurhan, O. M.; Yellin-Bergovoy, R.
Rossby waves are a pervasive feature of the large-scale motions of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. These waves (also known as planetary waves and r-modes) also play an important role in the large-scale dynamics of different astrophysical objects such as the solar atmosphere and interior, astrophysical discs, rapidly rotating stars, planetary and exoplanetary atmospheres. This paper provides a review of theoretical and observational aspects of Rossby waves on different spatial and temporal scales in various astrophysical settings. The physical role played by Rossby-type waves and associated instabilities is discussed in the context of solar and stellar magnetic activity, angular momentum transport in astrophysical discs, planet formation, and other astrophysical processes. Possible directions of future research in theoretical and observational aspects of astrophysical Rossby waves are outlined.
Open Access
Spatiotemporal evolution of evaporating liquid films sheared by a gas
(American Physical Society, 2021-11-04) Mohamed, Omair A. A.; Dallaston, M. C.; Biancofiore, Luca
We study the spatiotemporal evolution of an evaporating liquid film sheared by a gas considering both inertial and thermal instabilities, the latter arising from a combination of evaporation and Marangoni effects. The shearing gas is modeled by imposing a constant shear stress applied along the liquid's interface. Following in the footsteps of Joo et al. [S. W. Joo et al., J. Fluid Mech. 230, 117 (1991)], long-wave theory is used to derive a Benney-like equation governing the temporal volution of the liquid interface under the effects of inertia, hydrostatic pressure, surface tension, thermocapillarity, evaporation, and gas shear. Linear stability theory is used to investigate the temporal and spatiotemporal characteristics of the flow, where it is found that the evaporation of the film promotes absolute instabilities and can cause convective-absolute transitions of the perturbations. It is also found that a strong enough counterflowing shearing gas can suppress the inertial instability, commonly known as the H mode, affirming similar conclusions found by previous studies for a strongly confined isothermal film. Additionally, our temporal stability analysis indicates that the thinning of the film reduces the phase speed of thermal perturbations, due to the increasing dominance of viscosity. However, our spatiotemporal analysis shows that the thinning of the film actually results in the growth of additional modes with higher group velocities resulting in faster contamination of the flow field. Moreover, the interface evolution equation is solved numerically to (i) simulate the film's interface evolution subject to finite perturbations and (ii) compare to the results of the linear stability analysis. We find qualitative agreement between the temporal dynamics of the linear and nonlinear instabilities. Our subsequent numerical nonlinear spatiotemporal stability analysis demonstrates that for weaker thermal instabilities, the wave-front dynamics are imposed by the nonlinearly saturated wave packet, while for stronger thermal instabilities, the wave-front dynamics are dictated by the linear dispersion relationship. We also study the effects of the dimensionless parameters on the rupture location and the time it takes for the fluid film to rupture. Finally, the shear stress's effect on the rupture mechanics of the film is studied using self-similarity analysis, where we identify the fate of the evolution equation's solutions.
Open Access
The effect of side walls on the stability of falling films
(Cambridge University Press, 2023-06-07) Mohamed, H.; Sesterhenn, J.; Biancofiore, Luca
We study the influence of side walls on the stability of falling liquid films. We combine a temporal biglobal stability analysis based on the linearised Navier–Stokes equations with experiments measuring the spatial growth rate of sinusoidal waves flowing downstream an inclined channel. Very good agreement was found when comparing the theoretical and experimental results. Strong lateral confinement of the channel stabilises the flow. In the wavenumber-Reynolds number space, the instability region experiences a fragmentation due to selective damping of moderate wavenumbers. For this range of parameters, the three-dimensional confined problem shows several prominent stability modes which are classified into two categories, the well-known Kapitza hydrodynamic instability mode (H-mode) and a new unstable mode, we refer to it as wall-mode (W-mode). The two mode types are stabilised differently, where the H-modes are stabilised at small wavenumbers, while the W-modes experience stabilisation at high wavenumbers, and at sufficiently small channel widths, only the W-mode is observed. The reason behind the unique H-modes stabilisation is that they become analogous to waveguide modes, which can not propagate below a certain cut-off wavenumber. The spatial structure of the eigenmodes experiences significant restructuring at wavenumbers smaller than the most damped wavenumber. The mode switching preserves the spatial symmetry of the unstable mode.