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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp019w0325630
 Title: Swirling flows with applications to energy and biology Authors: Ault, Jesse Thomas Advisors: Stone, Howard A Contributors: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Keywords: applied mathcomputational fluid dynamicsfluid dynamicsscientific computing Subjects: Mechanical engineeringApplied mathematics Issue Date: 2017 Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Abstract: This thesis explores the dynamics of flows with secondary swirling motions in a variety of systems using experiments, theoretical techniques, and direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations. The applications of this work include: (a) modeling flows in piping networks such as in systems of curved pipes or downstream of perturbations, (b) enhancing or eliminating a novel particle-capture mechanism in branching flows as well as capturing biomaterials and visualizing their shear-induced interactions, and (c) modeling the enhanced diffusiophoretic motion of suspended particles in one-dimensional solute gradients. The first part of this dissertation begins with a discussion of the downstream decay of fully developed flow in a curved pipe that exits into a straight outlet. Scaling arguments are developed, numerical simulations are used to quantify transition lengths, and an analogy is made to the flow in the downstream outlets of a T-junction flow. Later, these scaling arguments are extended to analytical solutions for the flow downstream of a weakly curved pipe at large Reynolds numbers. By appropriate linearizations of the Navier-Stokes equations in both cylindrical and toroidal coordinates, the developing flow in the entry region of a weakly curved pipe is shown to have the same analytical solution as the flow downstream of a curved pipe. Using a similar analytical approach, the flow in a cylindrical, straight pipe downstream of an arbitrary 3D perturbation is solved for both the Stokes flow and high-Reynolds-number limits. The second part of this dissertation identifies unique features and applications of the flow in a branching junction. Specifically, a flow-induced, Reynolds-number-dependent particle-capture mechanism is shown to originate from features resembling classical vortex breakdown. By varying the junction angle and Reynolds number, I show how this particle capture mechanism can be enhanced or eliminated, and I show how the recirculation regions responsible for capture originate and evolve. I utilize this capture phenomenon to produce giant unilamellar vesicles through shear-induced fusion, and demonstrate a platform for visualizing shear-induced biomaterial interactions in flow. In the final part of this dissertation, the diffusiophoretic motion of suspended colloidal particles under 1D solute gradients is solved using numerical and analytical techniques. URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp019w0325630 Alternate format: The Mudd Manuscript Library retains one bound copy of each dissertation. Search for these copies in the library's main catalog: catalog.princeton.edu Type of Material: Academic dissertations (Ph.D.) Language: en Appears in Collections: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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