arXiv subjects

Detlef Lohse

Publications and source records attributed to Detlef Lohse.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Spontaneous Breakdown of Superhydrophobicity

In some cases water droplets can completely wet micro-structured superhydrophobic surfaces. The {\it dynamics} of this rapid process is analyzed by ultra-high-speed imaging. Depending on the scales of the micro-structure, the wetting fronts propagate smoothly and circularly or -- more interestingly -- in a {\it stepwise} manner, leading to a growing {\it square-shaped} wetted area: entering a new row perpendicular to the direction of front propagation takes milliseconds, whereas once this has happened, the row itself fills in microseconds ({\it ``zipping''})

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2007

Microbubbly drag reduction in Taylor-Couette flow in the wavy vortex regime

We investigate the effect of microbubbles on Taylor-Couette flow by means of direct numerical simulations. We employ an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach with a gas-fluid coupling based on the point-force approximation. Added mass, drag, lift, and gravity are taken into account in the modeling of the motion of the individual bubble. We find that very dilute suspensions of small non-deformable bubbles (volume void fraction below 1%, zero Weber number and bubble Reynolds number <10) induce a robust statistically steady drag reduction (up to 20%) in the so called wavy vortex flow regime (Re = 600-2500). The Reynolds number dependence of the normalized torque (the so-called Torque Reduction Ratio (TRR) which corresponds to the drag reduction) is consistent with a recent series of experimental measurements performed by Murai et al. (J. Phys. 14, 143 (2005)). Our analysis suggests that the physical mechanism for the torque reduction in this regime is due to the local axial forcing, induced by rising bubbles, that is able to break the highly dissipative Taylor wavy vortices in the system. We finally show that the lift force acting on the bubble is crucial in this process. When neglecting it, the bubbles preferentially accumulate near the inner cylinder and the bulk flow is less efficiently modified.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2007

Superstability of Surface Nanobubbles

Shock wave induced cavitation experiments and atomic force microscopy measurements of flat polyamide and hydrophobized silicon surfaces immersed in water are performed. It is shown that surface nanobubbles, present on these surfaces, do not act as nucleation sites for cavitation bubbles, in contrast to the expectation. This implies that surface nanobubbles are not just stable under ambient conditions but also under enormous reduction of the liquid pressure down to −6MPa. We denote this feature as superstability.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2006

Non-continuous Froude number scaling for the closure depth of a cylindrical cavity

A long, smooth cylinder is dragged through a water surface to create a cavity with an initially cylindrical shape. This surface void then collapses due to the hydrostatic pressure, leading to a rapid and axisymmetric pinch-off in a single point. Surprisingly, the depth at which this pinch-off takes place does not follow the expected Froude$^{1/3}$ power-law. Instead, it displays two distinct scaling regimes separated by discrete jumps, both in experiment and in numerical simulations (employing a boundary integral code). We quantitatively explain the above behavior as a capillary waves effect. These waves are created when the top of the cylinder passes the water surface. Our work thus gives further evidence for the non-universality of the void collapse.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2006

Phase Diagram of Vertically Shaken Granular Matter

A shallow, vertically shaken granular bed in a quasi 2-D container is studied experimentally yielding a wider variety of phenomena than in any previous study: (1) bouncing bed, (2) undulations, (3) granular Leidenfrost effect, (4) convection rolls, and (5) granular gas. These phenomena and the transitions between them are characterized by dimensionless control parameters and combined in a full experimental phase diagram.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2006

Gas Enrichment at Liquid-Wall Interfaces

Molecular dynamics simulations of Lennard-Jones systems are performed to study the effects of dissolved gas on liquid-wall and liquid-gas interfaces. Gas enrichment at walls is observed which for hydrophobic walls can exceed more than two orders of magnitude when compared to the gas density in the bulk liquid. As a consequence, the liquid structure close to the wall is considerably modified, leading to an enhanced wall slip. At liquid-gas interfaces gas enrichment is found which reduces the surface tension.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Leaping shampoo and the stable Kaye effect

Shear-thinning fluids exhibit surprisingly rich behaviour. One example is the Kaye effect which occurs when a thin stream of a solution of polyisobutylene in Decalin is poured into a dish of the fluid. As pouring proceeds, a small stream of liquid occasionally leaps upward from the heap. This surprising effect, which lasts only a second or so, is named after its first observer A. Kaye, who could offer no explanation for this behaviour. Later, Collyer and Fischer suggested from 250 frames per second cine recordings that the fluid must be highly shear thinning as well as elastic and 'pituitous'. In addition, they concluded that a rigid surface is required to back the reflected liquid stream. While the words bouncing and reflection are associated with non-continuous and elastic effects, we will show here that the Kaye effect is in fact a continuous flow phenomenon. We show that the Kaye effect works for many common fluids, including shampoos and liquid soaps. We reveal its physical mechanism (formation, stability and disruption) through high-speed imaging. The measurements are interpreted with a simple theoretical model including only the shear thinning behaviour of the liquid; elastic properties of the liquid play no role. We show that the Kaye effect can be stable and that it can be directed. We even demonstrate a stable Kaye effect on a thin soap film excluding the necessity of a rigid backing surface.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2006

Giant bubble pinch-off

Self-similarity has been the paradigmatic picture for the pinch-off of a drop. Here we will show through high-speed imaging and boundary integral simulations that the inverse problem, the pinch-off of an air bubble in water, is not self-similar in a strict sense: A disk is quickly pulled through a water surface, leading to a giant, cylindrical void which after collapse creates an upward and a downward jet. Only in the limiting case of large Froude number the neck radius $h$ scales as $h(-\log h)^{1/4} \propto τ^{1/2}$, the purely inertial scaling. For any finite Froude number the collapse is slower, and a second length-scale, the curvature of the void, comes into play. Both length-scales are found to exhibit power-law scaling in time, but with different exponents depending on the Froude number, signaling the non-universality of the bubble pinch-off.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2005

Response maxima in time-modulated turbulence: Direct Numerical Simulations

The response of turbulent flow to time-modulated forcing is studied by direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations. The large-scale forcing is modulated via periodic energy input variations at frequency $ω$. The response is maximal for frequencies in the range of the inverse of the large eddy turnover time, confirming the mean-field predictions of von der Heydt, Grossmann and Lohse (Phys. Rev. E 67, 046308 (2003)). In accordance with the theory the response maximum shows only a small dependence on the Reynolds number and is also quite insensitive to the particular flow-quantity that is monitored, e.g., kinetic energy, dissipation-rate, or Taylor-Reynolds number. At sufficiently high frequencies the amplitude of the kinetic energy response decreases as $1/ω$. For frequencies beyond the range of maximal response, a significant change in phase-shift relative to the time-modulated forcing is observed.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2004

Motion and wake structure of spherical particles

This paper presents results from a flow visualization study of the wake structures behind solid spheres rising or falling freely in liquids under the action of gravity. These show remarkable differences to the wake structures observed behind spheres held fixed. The two parameters controlling the rise or fall velocity (i.e., the Reynolds number) are the density ratio between sphere and liquid and the Galileo number.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2004

Rayleigh and Prandtl number scaling in the bulk of Rayleigh-Benard turbulence

The Rayleigh (Ra) and Prandtl (Pr) number scaling of the Nusselt number Nu, the Reynolds number Re, the temperature fluctuations, and the kinetic and thermal dissipation rates is studied for (numerical) homogeneous Rayleigh-Benard turbulence, i.e., Rayleigh-Benard turbulence with periodic boundary conditions in all directions and a volume forcing of the temperature field by a mean gradient. This system serves as model system for the bulk of Rayleigh-Benard flow and therefore as model for the so called ``ultimate regime of thermal convection''. With respect to the Ra dependence of Nu and Re we confirm our earlier results \cite{loh03} which are consistent with the Kraichnan theory \cite{kra62} and the Grossmann-Lohse (GL) theory \cite{gro00,gro01,gro02,gro04}, which both predict $Nu \sim Ra^{1/2}$ and $Re \sim Ra^{1/2}$. However the Pr dependence within these two theories is different. Here we show that the numerical data are consistent with the GL theory $Nu \sim Pr^{1/2}$, $Re \sim Pr^{-1/2}$. For the thermal and kinetic dissipation rates we find $\eps_θ/(κΔ^{2}L^{-2}) \sim (Re Pr)^{0.87}$ and $\eps_u/(ν^3 L^{-4}) \sim Re^{2.77}$, also both consistent with the GL theory, whereas the temperature fluctuations do not depend on Ra and Pr. Finally, the dynamics of the heat transport is studied and put into the context of a recent theoretical finding by Doering et al. \cite{doe05}.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2004

Impact

According to Shoemaker, the "impact of solid bodies is the most fundamental process that has taken place on the terrestrial planets", as they shape the surfaces of all solar system bodies. A lot of information on this process has been extracted from remote observations of impact craters on planetary surfaces. However, the nature of the geophysical impact events is that they are non-reproducible. Moreover, their scale is enormous and direct observations are not possible. Therefore, we choose an alternate and of course downscaled experimental approach in order to guarantee reproducible results: We prepare very fine sand in a well defined and fully decompactified state by letting gas bubble through it. After turning off the gas stream, we let a steel ball fall on the sand. The series of events in the experiments and corresponding discrete particle simulations is as follows: On impact of the ball, sand is blown away in all directions ("splash") and an impact crater forms. When this cavity collapses, a granular jet emerges and is driven straight into the air. A second jet goes downwards into the air bubble entrained during the process, thus pushing surface material deep into the ground. The air bubble rises slowly towards the surface, causing a granular eruption. In addition to the experiments and the discrete particle simulations we present a simple continuum theory to account for the void collapse leading to the formation of the upward and downward jets. We show that the phenomenon is robust and even works for oblique impacts: the upward jet is then shooting backwards, in the direction where the projectile came from.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2004

Spontaneous Ratchet Effect in a Granular Gas

The spontaneous clustering of a vibrofluidized granular gas is employed to generate directed transport in two different compartmentalized systems: a "granular fountain" in which the transport takes the form of convection rolls, and a "granular ratchet" with a spontaneous particle current perpendicular to the direction of energy input. In both instances, transport is not due to any system-intrinsic anisotropy, but arises as a spontaneous collective symmetry breaking effect of many interacting granular particles. The experimental and numerical results are quantitatively accounted for within a flux model.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2002

On geometry effects in Rayleigh-Benard convection

Various recent experiments hint at a geometry dependence of scaling relations in Rayleigh-Bénard convection. Aspect ratio and shape dependences have been found. In this paper a mechanism is offered which can account for such dependences. It is based on Prandtl's theory for laminar boundary layers and on the conservation of volume flux of the large scale wind. The mechanism implies the possibility of different thicknesses of the kinetic boundary layers at the sidewalls and the top/bottom plates, just as experimentally found by Qiu and Xia (Phys. Rev. E58, 486 (1998)), and also different $Ra$-scaling of the wind measured over the plates and at the sidewalls. In the second part of the paper a scaling argument for the velocity and temperature fluctuations in the bulk is developeVarious recent experiments hint at a geometry dependence of scaling relations in Rayleigh-Benard convection. Aspect ratio and shape dependences have been found. In this paper a mechanism is offered which can account for such dependences. It is based on Prandtl's theory for laminar boundary layers and on the conservation of volume flux of the large scale wind. The mechanism implies the possibility of different thicknesses of the kinetic boundary layers at the sidewalls and the top/bottom plates, just as experimentally found by Qiu and Xia (Phys. Rev. E58, 486 (1998)), and also different $Ra$-scaling of the wind measured over the plates and at the sidewalls. In the second part of the paper a scaling argument for the velocity and temperature fluctuations in the bulk is develope

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

The ultimate state of thermal convection

The ultimate regime of thermal convection, the so called Kraichnan regime (R. H. Kraichnan, Phys. Fluids 5, 1374 (1962)), hitherto has been elusive. Here, numerical evidence for that regime is presented by performing simulations of the bulk of turbulence only, eliminating the thermal and kinetic boundary layers and replacing them by periodic boundary conditions.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

Competitive Clustering in a Bi-disperse Granular Gas

A bi-disperse granular gas in a compartmentalized system is experimentally found to cluster competitively: Depending on the shaking strength, the clustering can be directed either towards the compartment initially containing mainly small particles, or to the one containing mainly large particles. The experimental observations are quantitatively explained within a flux model.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2002

Sudden Collapse of a Granular Cluster

Single clusters in a vibro-fluidized granular gas in N connected compartments become unstable at strong shaking. They are experimentally shown to collapse very abruptly. The observed cluster lifetime (as a function of the driving intensity) is analytically calculated within a flux model, making use of the self-similarity of the process. After collapse, the cluster diffuses out into the uniform distribution in a self-similar way, with an anomalous diffusion exponent 1/3.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Bifurcation Diagram for Compartmentalized Granular Gases

The bifurcation diagram for a vibro-fluidized granular gas in N connected compartments is constructed and discussed. At vigorous driving, the uniform distribution (in which the gas is equi-partitioned over the compartments) is stable. But when the driving intensity is decreased this uniform distribution becomes unstable and gives way to a clustered state. For the simplest case, N=2, this transition takes place via a pitchfork bifurcation but for all N>2 the transition involves saddle-node bifurcations. The associated hysteresis becomes more and more pronounced for growing N. In the bifurcation diagram, apart from the uniform and the one-peaked distributions, also a number of multi-peaked solutions occur. These are transient states. Their physical relevance is discussed in the context of a stability analysis.

nlin.CD↗