arXiv subjects

Ganesh Subramanian

Publications and source records attributed to Ganesh Subramanian.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Perspectives on viscoelastic flow instabilities and elastic turbulence

Viscoelastic fluids are a common subclass of rheologically complex materials that are encountered in diverse fields from biology to polymer processing. Often the flows of viscoelastic fluids are unstable in situations where ordinary Newtonian fluids are stable, owing to the nonlinear coupling of the elastic and viscous stresses. Perhaps more surprisingly, the instabilities produce flows with the hallmarks of turbulence -- even though the effective Reynolds numbers may be $O(1)$ or smaller. We provide perspectives on viscoelastic flow instabilities by integrating the input from speakers at a recent international workshop: historical remarks, characterization of fluids and flows, discussion of experimental and simulation tools, and modern questions and puzzles that motivate further studies of this fascinating subject. The materials here will be useful for researchers and educators alike, especially as the subject continues to evolve in both fundamental understanding and applications in engineering and the sciences.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Motion of a sphere in a viscous density stratified fluid

We examine the translation of a sphere in a stably stratified ambient in the limit of small Reynolds ($Re \ll 1$) and viscous Richardson numbers ($Ri_v \ll 1$); here, $Re = \frac{ρUa}μ$ and $Ri_v = \frac{γa^3 g}{μU}$ with $a$ being the sphere radius, $U$ the translation speed, $ρ$ and $μ$ the density and viscosity of the stratified ambient, $g$ the acceleration due to gravity, and $γ$ the density gradient (assumed constant) characterizing the ambient stratification. In contrast to most earlier efforts, our study considers the convection dominant limit corresponding to $Pe = \frac{Ua}{D} \gg 1$, $D$ being the diffusivity of the stratifying agent. We characterize in detail the velocity and density fields around the particle in what we term the Stokes stratification regime, defined by $Re \ll Ri_v^{\frac{1}{3}} \ll 1$, and corresponding to the dominance of buoyancy over inertial forces. Buoyancy forces associated with the perturbed stratification fundamentally alter the viscously dominated fluid motion at large distances. At distances of order the stratification screening length, that scales as $aRi_v^{-\frac{1}{3}}$, the motion transforms from the familiar fore-aft symmetric Stokesian form to a fore-aft asymmetric pattern of recirculating cells with primarily horizontal motion within; except in the vicinity of the rear stagnation streamline. At larger distances, the motion is vanishingly small except within (a) an axisymmetric horizontal wake whose vertical extent grows as $O(r_t^{\frac{2}{5}})$, $r_t$ being the distance in the plane perpendicular to translation and (b) a buoyant reverse jet behind the particle that narrows as the inverse square root of distance downstream.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Linear stability of a rotating liquid column revisited

We revisit the somewhat classical problem of the linear stability of a rigidly rotating liquid column in this communication. Although literature pertaining to this problem dates back to 1959, the relation between inviscid and viscous stability criteria has not yet been clarified. While the viscous criterion for stability, given by $We = n^2+k^2-1$, is both necessary and sufficient, this relation has only been shown to be sufficient in the inviscid case. Here, $We = ρΩ^2 a^3/γ$ is the Weber number and measures the relative magnitudes of the centrifugal and surface tension forces, with $Ω$ being the angular velocity of the rigidly rotating column, $a$ the column radius, $ρ$ the density of the fluid, and $γ$ the surface tension coefficient; $k$ and $n$ denote the axial and azimuthal wavenumbers of the imposed perturbation. We show that the subtle difference between the inviscid and viscous criteria arises from the surprisingly complicated picture of inviscid stability in the $We-k$ plane. For all $n >1$, the viscously unstable region, corresponding to $We > n^2+k^2-1$, contains an infinite hierarchy of inviscidly stable islands ending in cusps, with a dominant leading island. Only the dominant island, now infinite in extent along the $We$ axis, persists for $n= 1$. This picture may be understood, based on the underlying eigenspectrum, as arising from the cascade of coalescences between a retrograde mode, that is the continuation of the cograde surface-tension-driven mode across the zero Doppler frequency point, and successive retrograde Coriolis modes constituting an infinite hierarchy.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

A continuous pathway between the elasto-inertial and elastic turbulent states in viscoelastic channel flow

We show that viscoelastic plane Poiseuille flow becomes linearly unstable in the absence of inertia, in the limit of high elasticities, for ultra-dilute polymer solutions. While inertialess elastic instabilities have been predicted for curvilinear shear flows, this is the first ever report of a purely elastic linear instability in a rectilinear shear flow. The novel instability continues upto a Reynolds number ($Re$) of $O(1000)$, corresponding to the recently identified elasto-inertial turbulent state believed to underlie the maximum-drag-reduced regime. Thus, for highly elastic ultra-dilute polymer solutions, a single linearly unstable modal branch may underlie transition to elastic turbulence at zero $Re$, and to elasto-inertial turbulence at moderate $Re$, implying the existence of continuous pathways connecting the turbulent states to each other, and to the laminar base state.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

The rotation of a sedimenting anisotropic particle in a linearly stratified ambient

We derive the torque on a spheroid of an arbitrary aspect ratio $κ$ sedimenting in a linearly stratified ambient. The analysis demarcates regions in parameter space corresponding to broadside-on and edgewise (longside-on) settling in the limit $Re, Ri_v \ll 1$, where $Re = ρ_0UL/μ$ and $Ri_v =γL^3g/μU$, the Reynolds and viscous Richardson numbers, respectively, are dimensionless measures of the importance of inertial and buoyancy forces relative to viscous ones. Here, $L$ is the spheroid semi-major axis, $U$ an appropriate settling velocity scale, $μ$ the fluid viscosity, and $γ\,(>0)$ the (constant)\,density gradient characterizing the stably stratified ambient, with $ρ_0$ being the fluid density taken to be a constant within the Boussinesq framework. A reciprocal theorem formulation identifies three contributions to the torque: (1) an $O(Re)$ inertial contribution that already exists in a homogeneous ambient, and orients the spheroid broadside-on; (2) an $O(Ri_v)$ hydrostatic contribution due to the ambient linear stratification that also orients the spheroid broadside-on; and (3) a hydrodynamic contribution arising from the perturbation of the ambient stratification by the spheroid whose nature depends on $Pe$; $Pe = UL/D$ being the Peclet number with $D$ the diffusivity of the stratifying agent. For $Pe \gg 1$, the hydrodynamic contribution is $O(Ri_v^{\frac{2}{3}}$) in the Stokes stratification regime characterized by $Re \ll Ri_v^{\frac{1}{3}}$, and orients the spheroid edgewise regardless of $κ$. The differing orientation dependencies of the inertial and large-$Pe$ hydrodynamic stratification torques imply that the broadside-on and edgewise settling regimes are separated by two distinct $κ$-dependent critical curves in the $Ri_v/Re^{\frac{3}{2}}-κ$ plane. The predictions are consistent with recent experimental observations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Inertio-elastic instability of a vortex column

We analyze the instability of a vortex column in a dilute polymer solution at large $\textit{Re}$ and $\textit{De}$ with $\textit{El} = \textit{De}/\textit{Re}$, the elasticity number, being finite. Here, $\textit{Re} = Ω_0 a^2/ν_s$ and $\textit{De} = Ω_0 τ$ are, respectively, the Reynolds and Deborah numbers based on the core angular velocity ($Ω_0$), the radius of the column ($a$), the solvent-based kinematic viscosity ($ν_s = μ_s/ρ$), and the polymeric relaxation time ($τ$). The stability of small-amplitude perturbations in this distinguished limit is governed by the elastic Rayleigh equation whose spectrum is parameterized by $ \textrm{E} = \textit{El}(1-β)$, $β$ being the ratio of the solvent to the solution viscosity. The neglect of the relaxation terms, in the said limit, implies that the polymer solution supports undamped elastic shear waves propagating relative to the base-state flow. The existence of these shear waves leads to multiple (three) continuous spectra associated with the elastic Rayleigh equation in contrast to just one for the original Rayleigh equation. Further, unlike the neutrally stable inviscid case, an instability of the vortex column arises for finite E due to a pair of elastic shear waves being driven into a resonant interaction under the differential convection by the irrotational shearing flow outside the core. An asymptotic analysis for the Rankine profile shows the absence of an elastic threshold; although, for small E, the growth rate of the unstable discrete mode is transcendentally small, being O$(\textrm{E}^2e^{-1/\textrm{E}^{\frac{1}{2}}})$. An accompanying numerical investigation shows that the instability persists for smooth vorticity profiles, provided the radial extent of the transition region (from the rotational core to the irrotational exterior) is less than a certain $\textrm{E}$-dependent threshold.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

The center-mode instability of viscoelastic plane Poiseuille flow

A modal stability analysis shows that plane Poiseuille flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid becomes unstable to a `center mode' with phase speed close to the maximum base-flow velocity, $U_{max}$. The governing dimensionless groups are the Reynolds number $Re = ρU_{max} H/η$, the elasticity number $E = λη/(H^2ρ)$, and the ratio of solvent to solution viscosity $η_s/η$; here, $λ$ is the polymer relaxation time, $H$ is the channel half-width, and $ρ$ is the fluid density. For experimentally relevant values (e.g., $E \sim 0.1$ and $β\sim 0.9$), the predicted critical Reynolds number, $Re_c$, for the center-mode instability is around $200$, with the associated eigenmodes being spread out across the channel. In the asymptotic limit of $E(1 -β) \ll 1$, with $E$ fixed, corresponding to strongly elastic dilute polymer solutions, $Re_c \propto (E(1-β))^{-\frac{3}{2}}$ and the critical wavenumber $k_c \propto (E(1-β))^{-\frac{1}{2}}$. The unstable eigenmode in this limit is confined in a thin layer near the channel centerline. The above features are largely analogous to the center-mode instability in viscoelastic pipe flow (Garg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 121, 024502 (2018)), and suggest a universal linear mechanism underlying the onset of turbulence in both channel and pipe flows of suffciently elastic dilute polymer solutions.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Orientation Dynamics of Sedimenting Anisotropic Particles in Turbulence

We examine the dynamics of small anisotropic particles (spheroids) sedimenting through homogeneous isotropic turbulence using direct numerical simulations and theory. The gravity-induced inertial torque acting on sub-Kolmogorov spheroids leads to pronouncedly non-Gaussian orientation distributions localized about the broadside-on(to gravity) orientation. Orientation distributions and average settling velocities are obtained over a wide range of spheroid aspect ratios, Stokes and Froude numbers. Orientational moments from the simulations compare well with analytical predictions in the inertialess rapid-settling limit, with both exhibiting a non-monotonic dependence on spheroid aspect ratio. Deviations arise at Stokes numbers of order unity due to a spatially inhomogeneous particle concentration field resulting from a preferential sweeping effect; as a consequence, the time-averaged particle settling velocities exceed the orientationally averaged estimates.

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2020

An anisotropic particle in a simple shear flow: an instance of chaotic scattering

In the Stokesian limit, the streamline topology around a single neutrally buoyant sphere is identical to the topology of pair-sphere pathlines, both in an ambient simple shear flow. In both cases there are fore-aft symmetric open and closed trajectories spatially demarcated by an axisymmetric separatrix surface. This topology has crucial implications for both scalar transport from a single sphere, and for the rheology of a dilute suspension of spheres. We show that the topology of the fluid pathlines around a neutrally buoyant freely rotating spheroid, in simple shear flow, is profoundly different, and will have a crucial bearing on transport from such particles in shearing flows. To the extent that fluid pathlines in the single-spheroid problem and pair-trajectories in the two-spheroid problem, are expected to bear a qualitative resemblance to each other, the non-trivial trajectory topology identified here will also have significant consequences for the rheology of dilute suspensions of anisotropic particles.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Linear instability of viscoelastic pipe flow

A modal stability analysis shows that pressure-driven pipe flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid is linearly unstable to axisymmetric perturbations, in stark contrast to its Newtonian counterpart which is linearly stable at all Reynolds numbers. The dimensionless groups that govern stability are the Reynolds number, the elasticity number, and the ratio of solvent to solution viscosity. The unstable mode has a phase speed close to the base-state maximum over the entire unstable region in the relevant parameter space, implying that the unstable mode belongs to a class of viscoelastic center modes. Unlike the Newtonian transition which is dominated by nonlinear processes, the linear instability discussed here could be very relevant to the onset of turbulence in viscoelastic pipe flows. The prediction of an instability is, in fact, consistent with several experimental studies on pipe flow of polymer solutions, ranging from previous reports of early turbulence to the more recent discovery of elasto-inertial turbulence. The instability identified in this study comprehensively dispels the prevailing notion of pipe flow of viscoelastic fluids being linearly stable in the Reynolds-Weissenberg plane, marking a possible paradigm shift in our understanding of transition in rectilinear viscoelastic shearing flows.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Enhanced velocity fluctuations in interacting swimmer suspensions

A dilute non-interacting suspension of micro-swimmers exhibits a finite velocity variance and short-ranged correlations that decay over a swimmer length. For a suspension of interacting straight swimmers, however, pair-interactions leads to a non-decaying velocity covariance, and a variance that diverges logarithmically with system size. The divergence is arrested on inclusion of orientation decorrelation mechanisms. Results for suspensions of run-and-tumble particles (RTPs) are presented, where the underlying straight-swimmer divergence leads to a broad cross-over between the ballistic and diffusive regimes, of immersed passive tracers, in the limit of long run lengths. Our analysis explains long-standing experimental observations of a volume-fraction dependent crossover time for passive tracer dynamics.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

Shear induced migration of microswimmers in pressure-driven channel flow

We study the shear induced migration of microswimmers (primarily, active Brownian particles or ABP's) in a plane Poiseuille flow. For wide channels characterized by $U_b/HD_r \ll 1$, the separation between time scales characterizing the swimmer orientation dynamics (of O($D^{-1}_r$)) and those that characterize migration across the channel (of O($H^{2}D_r/U^{2}_b$)), allows for use of the method of multiple scales to derive a drift-diffusion equation for the swimmer concentration profile; here, $U_b$ is the swimming speed, $H$ is the channel half-width, and $D_r$ is the swimmer rotary diffusivity. The steady state concentration profile is a function of the Péclet number, $Pe = U_{f}/(D_r H)$ ($U_f$ being the channel centerline velocity), and the swimmer aspect ratio $κ$. Swimmers with $ κ\gg 1$ (with $ κ\sim$ O(1)), in the regime $1 \ll \textit{Pe} \ll κ^3$ ($Pe\sim$ O(1)), migrate towards the channel walls, corresponding to a high-shear trapping behavior. For $Pe \gg κ^3 $ ($Pe \gg $ 1 for $κ\sim$ O(1)), however, swimmers migrate towards the centerline, corresponding to a low-shear trapping behavior. Interestingly, within the low-shear trapping regime, swimmers with $κ< 2$ asymptote to a $Pe$-independent concentration profile for large $Pe$, while those with $κ\geq 2$ exhibit a `centerline-collapse' for $Pe \to \infty$. The prediction of low-shear-trapping, validated by Langevin simulations, is the first explanation of recent experimental observations [Barry $\textit{et al}$. (2015)]. We organize the high-shear and low-shear trapping regimes on a $Pe-κ$ plane, thereby highlighting the singular behavior of infinite-aspect-ratio swimmers.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Stress relaxation in a dilute bacterial suspension: The active-passive transition

We analyse the time dependent non-linear rheology of a dilute bacterial suspension (e.g. E. coli) for a pair of impulsively started linear flows - simple shear and uniaxial extension. The rheology is governed by the bacterium orientation distribution which satisfies a kinetic equation that includes rotation by the imposed flow, and relaxation to isotropy via rotary diffusion and tumbling. The relevant dimensionless parameters are the Peclet number $Pe\equiv \dotγτ$, which dictates the importance of flow-induced orientation anisotropy, and $τD_r$, which quantifies the relative importance of the two intrinsic orientation decorrelation mechanisms (tumbling and rotary diffusion). Here, $τ$ is the mean run duration of a bacterium that exhibits a run-and-tumble dynamics, $D_r$ is the intrinsic rotary diffusivity of the bacterium and $\dotγ$ is the characteristic magnitude of the imposed velocity gradient. The solution of the kinetic equation is obtained numerically using a spectral Galerkin method, and yields the relevant rheological properties over the entire range of $Pe$. For simple shear, the stress relaxation predicted by our analysis at small $Pe$ is in good agreement with the experimental observations of Lopez et al. (2015). However, the analysis at large $Pe$ yields relaxations that are qualitatively different. The rheological response in the experiments corresponds to a transition from a nearly isotropic suspension of active swimmers at small $Pe$, to an apparently (nearly) isotropic suspension of passive rods at large $Pe$. In contrast, the computations yield the expected transition to a nearly flow-aligned suspension of passive rigid rods at high $Pe$. We probe this active-passive transition systematically, complementing the numerical solution with analytical solutions obtained from perturbation expansions about appropriate base states.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Concentration banding instability of a sheared bacterial suspension

We demonstrate a novel shear-induced mechanism for growth of concentration fluctuations in a bacterial suspension. Using a linear stability analysis, a homogeneously sheared suspension is shown to support exponentially growing layering perturbations in the shear-rate and bacterial concentration. Non-linear simulations show that the instability eventually leads to gradient-banded velocity profiles, with a local depletion of bacteria at the interface between the bands. Our results show that long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions are sufficient to explain recent observations of shear-bands in bacterial suspensions.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Viscoelastic pipe flow is linearly unstable

Newtonian pipe flow is known to be linearly stable at all Reynolds numbers. We report, for the first time, a linear instability of pressure driven pipe flow of a viscoelastic fluid, obeying the Oldroyd-B constitutive equation commonly used to model dilute polymer solutions. The instability is shown to exist at Reynolds numbers significantly lower than those at which transition to turbulence is typically observed for Newtonian pipe flow. Our results qualitatively explain experimental observations of transition to turbulence in pipe flow of dilute polymer solutions at flow rates where Newtonian turbulence is absent. The instability discussed here should form the first stage in a hitherto unexplored dynamical pathway to turbulence in polymer solutions. An analogous instability exists for plane Poiseuille flow.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

Efficient and Secure Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks through Optimal Power Control and Optimal Handoff-Based Recovery Mechanism

Advances in wireless sensor network (WSN) technology have provided the availability of small and low-cost sensor with capability of sensing various types of physical and environmental conditions, data processing, and wireless communication. In WSN, the sensor nodes have a limited transmission range, and their processing and storage capabilities as well as their energy resources are also limited. Modified triple umpiring system (MTUS) has already proved its better performance in Wireless Sensor Networks. In this paper, we extended the MTUS by incorporating optimal signal to noise ratio (SNR)-based power control mechanism and optimal handoff-based self-recovery features to form an efficient and secure routing for WSN. Extensive investigation studies using Glomosim-2.03 Simulator show that efficient and secure routing protocol (ESRP) with optimal power control mechanism, and handoff-based self-recovery can significantly reduce the power usage.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2014

Stochastic dynamics of active swimmers in linear flows

Most classical work on the hydrodynamics of low-Reynolds-number swimming addresses deterministic locomotion in quiescent environments. Thermal fluctuations in fluids are known to lead to a Brownian loss of the swimming direction. As most cells or synthetic swimmers are immersed in external flows, we consider theoretically in this paper the stochastic dynamics of a model active particle (a self-propelled sphere) in a steady general linear flow. The stochasticity arises both from translational diffusion in physical space, and from a combination of rotary diffusion and run-and-tumble dynamics in orientation space. We begin by deriving a general formulation for all components of the long-time mean square displacement tensor for a swimmer with a time-dependent swimming velocity and whose orientation decorrelates due to rotary diffusion alone. This general framework is applied to obtain the convectively enhanced mean-squared displacements of a steadily-swimming particle in three canonical linear flows (extension, simple shear, and solid-body rotation). We then show how to extend our results to the case where the swimmer orientation also decorrelates on account of run-and-tumble dynamics. Self-propulsion in general leads to the same long-time temporal scalings as for passive particles in linear flows but with increased coefficients. In the particular case of solid-body rotation, the effective long-time diffusion is the same as that in a quiescent fluid, and we clarify the lack of flow-dependence by briefly examining the dynamics in elliptic linear flows. By comparing the new active terms with those obtained for passive particles we see that swimming can lead to an enhancement of the mean-square displacements by orders of magnitude, and could be relevant for biological organisms or synthetic swimming devices in fluctuating environmental or biological flows.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Coupling between quantum Hall state and electromechanics in suspended graphene resonator

Using graphene resonator, we perform electromechanical measurements in quantum Hall regime to probe the coupling between a quantum Hall (QH) system and its mechanical motion. Mechanically perturbing the QH state through resonance modifies the DC resistance of the system and results in a Fano-lineshape due to electronic interference. Magnetization of the system modifies the resonator's equilibrium position and effective stiffness leading to changes in resonant frequency. Our experiments show that there is an intimate coupling between the quantum Hall state and mechanics - electron transport is affected by physical motion and in turn the magnetization modifies the electromechanical response.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗