MechE Colloquium: Design of chiral coupling in fluids
Event details
| Date | 24.09.2024 |
| Hour | 12:00 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Greg Voth, Fluid Dynamics and Soft Condensed Matter Lab, Wesleyan University |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract: How can we design particle shapes to optimize coupling of translation to rotation in fluid flow? This chiral design problem has a rich history with connections to chiroptical response of molecules and metamaterials, chiral phases in crystals and nematics, and many applications of particle motion in fluids including locomotion of micro-organisms and robots. Experiments on sedimentation at low Reynolds number provide a familiar and concrete context in which to unlearn some oversimplifications about handedness as a binary or scalar property of particles and replace them with adequate tools for quantifying translation-rotation coupling. The talk will particularly focus on helical ribbons which can have very simple translation-rotation coupling in certain cases and can be modified to approach the maximum complexity of sedimenting particles by changing their length and center of mass. In more complex flows, particles can be designed to optimize coupling to the velocity gradients in addition to the relative velocity.
Biography: Greg Voth is professor of physics at Wesleyan University, CT, USA. He was a PhD student at Cornell University with Eberhard Bodenschatz using strip detectors to measure accelerations in turbulent flows, and did a postdoc with Jerry Gollub at Haverford College studying chaotic mixing and granular flows. His group at Wesleyan has focused on development of new tools for measurements in turbulent and/or multi-phase flows. Recent work has involved measuring motion of particles with complex shapes seeking to understand the geometric design problem of how to select shapes to achieve desired dynamics. His research has been recognized by the Andreas Acrivos dissertation award, a Sloan research fellowship, and an NSF faculty early career development award.
Biography: Greg Voth is professor of physics at Wesleyan University, CT, USA. He was a PhD student at Cornell University with Eberhard Bodenschatz using strip detectors to measure accelerations in turbulent flows, and did a postdoc with Jerry Gollub at Haverford College studying chaotic mixing and granular flows. His group at Wesleyan has focused on development of new tools for measurements in turbulent and/or multi-phase flows. Recent work has involved measuring motion of particles with complex shapes seeking to understand the geometric design problem of how to select shapes to achieve desired dynamics. His research has been recognized by the Andreas Acrivos dissertation award, a Sloan research fellowship, and an NSF faculty early career development award.
Practical information
- General public
- Free