arXiv subjects

H. Caps

Publications and source records attributed to H. Caps.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

Rotation of a melting ice at the surface of a pool

Large circular ice blocks up to 80 m of diameter have been observed on frozen river around the world. This rare event has been reported in a publication in 1993. This fascinating self-fashioned object slowly rotates at about 1$^o$ per second. In this paper, we report a model experiment consisting in a 85 mm of diameter ice disc at the surface of a thermalised pool. The rotation speed has been found to increase with the bath temperature. Using particle image velocimetry technique, we evidence the presence of a vortex below the ice block. This vortex results from the descending flow of high density water at 4$^o$C. The vorticity of the vortex induces the rotation of the ice block. This mechanism is generic of any vertical flow that generates a vortex which induces the rotation of a floating object.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2014

Foams in a rotating drum

A nearly two-dimensionnal foam is generated inside a Hele-Shaw cell half-filled with a surfactant solution. The cell is then placed vertically on a tumbler so that it rotates around its center with the cell angular velocity as the control parameter. During the foam rotation the liquid fraction increases and the foam/liquid interface deforms. The shear velocity profiles generated inside the foam are studied along two representative lines. The foam rheological properties are obtained using statistical tools and allow us to determine the foam effective viscosity. A semiempirical model is proposed for these velocity profiles, emphasizing the significance of the viscous dissipations between the bubbles and with the cell walls.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2014

Resonant and antiresonant bouncing droplets

When placed onto a vibrating liquid bath, a droplet may adopt a permanent bouncing behavior, depending on both the forcing frequency and the forcing amplitude. The relationship between the droplet deformations and the bouncing mechanism is studied experimentally and theoretically through an asymmetric and dissipative bouncing spring model. Antiresonance effects are evidenced. Experiments and theoretical predictions show that both resonance at specific frequencies and antiresonance at Rayleigh frequencies play crucial roles in the bouncing mechanism. In particular, we show that they can be exploited for droplet size selection.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Floating rings in vertical soap films : capillary driven bidimensional buoyancy

The present study aims to investigate the motion of buoyant rings in vertical soap films. Thickness differences and related bi-dimensional densities are considered as the motor leading to bi-dimensional buoyancy. We show how this effect can be re-interpreted thanks to surface tension profiles in soap films. We propose a model involving surface tension profiles in order to describe the motion of buoyant particles in vertical soap films, and compare it to experimental data.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2013

Elasto-capillary collapse of floating structures - Non-linear response of elastic structures under capillary forces

Flexible rings and rectangle structures floating at the surface of water are prone to deflect under the action of surface pressure induced by the addition of surfactant molecules on the bath. While the frames of rectangles bend inward or outward for any surface pressure difference, circles are only deformed by compression beyond a critical buckling load. However, compressed frames also undergo a secondary buckling instability leading to a rhoboidal shape. Following the pioneering works of \cite{Hu} and \cite{Zell}, we describe both experimentally and theoretically the different elasto-capillary deflection and buckling modes as a function of the material parameters. In particular we show how this original fluid structure interaction may be used to probe the adsorption of surfactant molecules at liquid interfaces.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2013

Surface tension profiles in vertical soap films

Surface tension profiles in vertical soap films are experimentally investigated. Measurements are performed introducing deformable elastic objets in the films. The shape adopted by those objects set in the film can be related to the surface tension value at a given vertical position by numerical solving of adapted elasticity equations. We show that the observed dependency of the surface tension versus the vertical position in the soap film can be reproduced by simple modeling taking into account film thickness measurements.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

A fountain of droplets

A vessel is plunged upside down into a pool of 50 cSt silicone oil. An air bell is then created. This bell is vertically shaken at 60 Hz that leads to the oscillation of the air/oil interface. The edges of the immersed vessel generate surface waves that propagate towards the center of the bell. When the amplitude of the oscillation increases, wave amplitude increases. We study the influence of the angle between successive sides on the wave patterns. Two kinds of vessel have been studied: a triangular and a square prism. The shape of the air/oil meniscus depends on the angle between the sides of the considered prism. As the amplitude of the oscillation is increased, the triple line, which is the contact line between the solid and the air/oil interface, moves up and down. Above a given acceleration that depends on the immersion depth and on the shape vessel, wave goes under the corner edge of the bell. During the oscillation, the wave generates at the edges presents a singularity that leads eventually to a jet and a drop ejection. A drop is ejected at each oscillation. More complicated ejection can be produced with further increase of the amplitude. This is a sample arXiv article illustrating the use of fluid dynamics videos.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Freezing Splashes

We have studied the splashing dynamics of water drops impacting granular layers. Depending on the drop kinetic energy, various shapes are observed for the resulting craters. Experimental parameters that have been considered are : the size of the millimetric droplets; the height of the free fall, ranging from 1.5 cm to 100 cm; and the diameter of the grains. As the drop is impacting the granular layer, energy is dissipated and a splash of grain occurs. Meanwhile, surface tension, inertia and viscosity compete, leading to strong deformations of the drop which depend on the experimental conditions. Just after the drop enters into contact with the granular bed, imbibition takes place and increases the apparent viscosity of the fluid. The drop motion is stopped by this phenomenon. Images and fast-video recordings of the impacts allowed to find scaling laws for the crater morphology and size. This abstract is related to a fluid dynamics video for the APS DFD gallery of fluid motion 2010.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2009

Antibubbles in a cyclone eyewall

A negative bubble, coined antibubble, is composed by a thin air shell that is immersed in a soapy mixture. A large vortex is generated in the liquid using a mixer. An antibubble is then created close to the surface. The antibubble is fastly attracted by the vortex. It rotates arount the core and comes closer and closer. When the stress is large enough, the vortex deforms the antibubble that winds around the eye vortex. The antibubble looks like a spiral. Under some conditions, the antibubble splits into several antibubbles that are ejected out of the eye vortex while the largest part is still trapped the vortex. This latter is elongated and is absorbed to the bottom of the tank before popping. fluid dynamics video

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2009

Faraday instability on a network

Faraday waves are generated at the air/liquid interface inside an array of square cells. As the free surface inside each cell is destabilizing due to the oscillations, the shape of the free surface is drastically changing. Depending on the value of the frequency f of oscillations, different patterns are observed inside each cell. For well defined f values, neighboring cells are observed to interact and a general organization is noticed. In such a situation, initially disordered structures lead to a general pattern covering the entire liquid pool and a spatial order appears all over the cell array. This abstract is related to a fluid dynamics video for the gallery of fluid motion 2009.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2004

Granular size segregation in underwater sand ripples

We report an experimental study of a binary sand bed under an oscillating water flow. The formation and evolution of ripples is observed. The appearance of a granular segregation is shown to strongly depend on the sand bed preparation. The initial wavelength of the mixture is measured. In the final steady state, a segregation in volume is observed instead of a segregation at the surface as reported before. The correlation between this phenomenon and the fluid flow is emphasised. Finally, different ``exotic'' patterns and their geophysical implications are presented.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2004

Rolling/Slipping Motion of Euler's Disk

We present an experimental study of the motion of a circular disk spun onto a table. With the help of a high speed video system, the temporal evolutions of (i) the inclination angle $α$, (ii) the angular velocity $ω$ and (iii) the precession rate $Ω$ are studied. The influence of the mass of the disk and the friction between the disk and the supporting surface are considered. %The motions of disks with different masses and over different surfaces are studied. The inclination angle $α$ and the angular velocity are observed to decrease according to a power law. We also show that the precession rate $Ω$ diverges as the disk stops. Exponents are measured very near the collapse as well as on long range times. Collapsing times have been also measured. The results are compared with previous theoretical and experimental works. The major source of energy dissipation is found to be the slipping of the disk on the plane.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2004

Block to granular-like transition in dense bubble flows

We have experimentally investigated 2-dimensional dense bubble flows underneath inclined planes. Velocity profiles and velocity fluctuations have been measured. A broad second-order phase transition between two dynamical regimes is observed as a function of the tilt angle $θ$. For low $θ$ values, a block motion is observed. For high $θ$ values, the velocity profile becomes curved and a shear velocity gradient appears in the flow.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2003

Long lasting instabilities in granular mixtures

We have performed experiments of axial segregation in the Oyama's drum. We have tested binary granular mixtures during very long times. The segregation patterns have been captured by a CCD camera and spatio-temporal graphs are created. We report the occurence of instabilities which can last several hours. We stress that those instabilities originate from the competition between axial and radial segregations. We put into evidence the occurence of giant fluctuations in the fraction of grain species along the surface during the unstable periods.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2002

Ripple and kink dynamics

We propose a relevant modification of the Nishimori-Ouchi model [{\em Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 71}, 197 (1993)] for granular landscape erosion. We explicitly introduce a new parameter: the angle of repose $θ_r$, and a new process: avalanches. We show that the $θ_r$ parameter leads to an asymmetry of the ripples, as observed in natural patterns. The temporal evolution of the maximum ripple height $h_{max}$ is limited and not linear, according to recent observations. The ripple symmetry and the kink dynamics are studied and discussed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Labyrinthic granular landscapes

We have numerically studied a model of granular landscape eroded by wind. We show the appearance of labyrinthic patterns when the wind orientation turns by $90^\circ$. The occurence of such structures are discussed. Morever, we introduce the density $n_k$ of ``defects'' as the dynamic parameter governing the landscape evolution. A power law behavior of $n_k$ is found as a function of time. In the case of wind variations, the exponent (drastically) shifts from 2 to 1. The presence of two asymptotic values of $n_k$ implies the irreversibility of the labyrinthic formation process.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Granular spirals on erodible sand bed submitted to a circular fluid motion

An experimental study of a granular surface submitted to a circular fluid motion is presented. The appearance of an instability along the sand-water interface is observed beyond a critical radius $r_c$. This creates ripples with a spiral shape on the granular surface. A phase diagram of such patterns is constructed and discussed as a function of the rotation speed $ω$ of the flow and as a function of the height of water $h$ above the surface. The study of $r_c$ as a function of $h$, $ω$ and $r$ parameters is reported. Thereafter, $r_c$ is shown to depend on the rotation speed according to a power law. The ripple wavelength is found to decrease when the rotation speed increases and is proportional to the radial distance $r$. The azimuthal angle \az of the spiral arms is studied. It is found that \az scales with $hωr$. This lead to the conclusion that \az depends on the fluid momentum. Comparison with experiments performed with fluids allows us to state that the spiral patterns are not the signature of an instability of the boundary layer.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Patterns in hydraulic ripples with binary granular mixtures

An experimental study of a binary granular mixture submitted to a transient shear flow in a cylindrical container is reported. The formation of ripples with a spiral shape is observed. The appearance of phase segregation in those spiral patterns is shown. The relative grain size bewteen sand species is found to be a relevant parameter leading to phase segregation. However, the relative repose angle is an irrelevant parameter. The formation of sedimentary structures is also presented. They result from a ripple climbing process. The ``sub-critical'' or ``super-critical'' character of the lamination patterns is shown to depend on the rotation speed of the container.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗