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Research
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Application Areas
Fluids and Materials

Fluids research in ESAM spans vast scales from the equal flow inside tiny droplets to turbulence inside and on the surface of the sun and other stars. 

Faculty 

Daniel Lecoanet Michael J Miksis David Chopp
Petia Vlahovska Neelish Patankar

Recent publications

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Biofluid Mechanics 

Biofluid MechanicsBiofluid Mechanics is the subject of applying fundamental ideas from fluid mechanics to better understand the biology of living systems. This is a field that is moving very rapidly today because of the development of new experimental techniques that have allowed for quantitative measurements of specific biological systems, e.g., the motion of a cell.

Research within ESAM involves the development of mathematical models of interesting biological systems, the development of new analytical and computational methods to solve these models, and interaction with experimental groups to verify the validity of the investigation. Specific areas of current research include biofilms (an aggregation of bacteria on solid surfaces surrounded by gas or liquid), vesicle and cell dynamics, and the dynamics of aneurysms.

Core Faculty
M. Mani, M.J. Miksis, P. Vlahovska

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Interfaces

Interfacial PhenomenaInterfaces separate distinct phases of material. The systems can be fluid-fluid like air-water, solid-solid like alpha-beta phases of alloys, or fluid-solid. Interfaces are the site of concentrated "forces" such as surface tension or latent heat, and interfacial deflection couples with bulk diffusive processes to generate waves, convection, droplets, and many other configurations in dynamical instabilities.

Research in ESAM includes the development of numerical methods to drive the dynamics of interfaces efficiently, the theoretical analysis of droplet shape and motion, as well as experimental studies theory. 

Many examples of interfacial phenomena and the numerical methods used to solve the models are discussed in many of the other research topic descriptions.

Core Faculty
D. Chopp, M.J. Miksis, P. Vlahovska

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Convection and Instabilities

Convection is an important fluid dynamical instability which occurs when light fluid lies below heavy fluid. In the Earth’s atmosphere, convection drives turbulence and generates storms; in the Earth’s liquid outer core convection generates a large-scale magnetic field which protects the Earth from solar radiation; and in stars, convection transports heat and can lead to regular cycles of magnetic activity. While there remain many fundamental questions about the turbulence and heat transport by convection, more recent work in ESAM has focused on convection in rotating bodies, the interaction of convection with magnetic fields, and how convective turbulence can influence adjacent fluid.

Core Faculty
D. Lecoanet, M.J. Miksis, P. Vlahovska

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Magnetohydrodynamics

As stellar plasma is electrically highly conductive, it can generate and interact with magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can concentrate into regions of strong magnetic field at the surface of stars, leading to dark spots. On the Sun, these sunspots undergo an 11-year cycle first observed by Galileo. Despite its link to solar weather and aurorae on Earth, the origins of the solar magnetic field are still unknown.

Core Faculty
D. Lecoanet

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Helioseismology

Stars are comprised of high-temperature plasma. The flows of this plasma can play an important role in the structure and evolution of stars. Turbulence driven by convection mixes material and transports energy within stars, and this process needs to be correctly modeled to produce accurate predictions of stellar properties. Over the past 10-15 years, stellar astrophysics has been revolutionized by asteroseismology, the study of global oscillation modes of stars. Studies of stellar oscillations like those pursued by ESAM, can reveal the interior structure of stars and are exacting probes of the theory of stellar evolution.

Core Faculty
D. Lecoanet

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Turbulence

Turbulence describes the chaotic, unstable motions typical of fluids on large scales. In three dimensional, isotropic flows, large turbulent vortices break down into smaller vortices, which break down into yet smaller vortices in a roughly self-similar manner. However, in anisotropic flows, turbulence can cause small-scale flows to merge into larger and larger features, leading to large jets like on Jupiter, or large vortices like hurricanes. As turbulence is common in natural and industrial flows, accurate models of turbulence are essential for a wide range of applications.

Core Faculty
D. Lecoanet

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Applied Math Fluids Lab 

The Fluids Lab of the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Math provides unique opportunities for hands-on experimental experience that highlights the principles of modeling and key mathematical concepts.

Core Faculty
P. Vlahovska

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