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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Linear analysis of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in relativistic magnetized symmetric flows

ABSTRACT We study the linear stability of a planar interface separating two fluids in relative motion, focusing on the symmetric configuration where the two fluids have the same properties (density, temperature, magnetic field strength, and direction). We consider the most general case with arbitrary sound speed cs, Alfvén speed vA, and magnetic field orientation. For the instability associated with the fast mode, we find that the lower bound of unstable shear velocities is set by the requirement that the projection of the velocity on to the fluid-frame wavevector is larger than the projection of the Alfvén speed on to the same direction, i.e. shear should overcome the effect of magnetic tension. In the frame where the two fluids move in opposite directions with equal speed v, the upper bound of unstable velocities corresponds to an effective relativistic Mach number $M_{\rm re}\equiv v/v_{\rm {f}\perp }\sqrt{(1-v_{\rm {f}\perp }^2)/(1-v^2)} \cos \theta =\sqrt{2}$, where $v_{\rm {f}\perp }=[v_{\rm {A}}^2+c_{\rm s}^2(1-v_{\rm {A}}^2)]^{1/2}$ is the fast speed assuming a magnetic field perpendicular to the wavevector (here, all velocities are in units of the speed of light), and θ is the laboratory-frame angle between the flow velocity and the wavevector projection on to the shear interface. Our results have implications for shear flows in the magnetospheres of neutron stars and black holes – both for single objects and for merging binaries – where the Alfvén speed may approach the speed of light.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Linear stability analysis of two fluid columns of different densities and viscosities in a gravity field

The linear stability of a vertical interface separating two miscible fluid columns of different densities and viscosities under the influence of gravity is investigated. This flow possesses a time-dependent reference state (each column accelerates at different rates owing to their different densities) and the interface thickness grows as the square root of time (by diffusion). Numerical integration of the linear initial-value problem is carried out and discussed in detail as a function of vertical and spanwise wavenumbers and the flow parameters. Adjoint-based optimization is performed in order to determine initial conditions that lead to maximum growth of disturbances in finite time. Results indicate that the rate of growth of the perturbation energy at small wavenumbers (less affected by viscosity initially) is dominated by two-dimensional modes (no spanwise variation). Substantial transient growth is observed at higher wave modes initially, followed by asymptotic decay of the perturbations at large time. Sensitivity of perturbation growth with respect to initial time, density and viscosity ratios is investigated. This work is complementary to previous inviscid analysis of this configuration, which showed that the interface was unconditionally unstable at all wave modes, even in the presence of surface tension, and that instability grew as the exponential of time squared.

Mechanics↗
DOE OSTI2020

The αs and θs in Rayleigh–Taylor and Richtmyer–Meshkov instabilities

The alphas (α b , α s ) and thetas (θ b , θ s ) are the essential parameters describing the asymptotic growth behavior of the mixing layer driven by Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) instabilities at the interface between the fluids. Extensive simulations and experiments have been conducted in the determination of these parameters. The results depend on numerical algorithms, resolutions, and the accuracy of experimental measurements. In this article, we present a unique relationship between the alphas and thetas by applying a simple buoyancy-drag mixing model. Our first main result is that, for the same fluids, these parameters are not independent because they are fundamentally connected by physics principles and they all are functions of the drag coefficients of the fluids. As a consequence, the alphas and thetas are intrinsically coupled. All are functions of any single one of these. Additionally, our second main result is that the RT bubble growth rate (α b ) is determined by the bubble competition process – a merger model – at the edge of the mixing layer. Together, these two main results determine all the alphas and thetas by strictly theoretical reasoning. Applications to both hydro and laser driven experiments at OMEGA are presented.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Impacts of Mixed-Wettability on Brine Drainage and Supercritical CO 2 Storage Efficiency in a 2.5-D Heterogeneous Micromodel

Geological carbon storage (GCS) involves unstable drainage processes, the formation of patterns in a morphologically unstable interface between two fluids in a porous medium during drainage. The unstable drainage processes affect CO 2 storage efficiency and plume distribution and can be greatly complicated by the mixed-wet nature of rock surfaces common in hydrocarbon reservoirs where supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2 ) is used in enhanced oil recovery. Here, we performed scCO 2 injection (brine drainage) experiments at 8.5 MPa and 45°C in heterogeneous micromodels, two mixed-wet with varying water- and intermediate-wet patches, and one water-wet. The flow regime changes from capillary fingering through crossover to viscous fingering in the micromodels of the same pore geometry but different wetting surfaces at displacement rates with logCa (capillary number) increasing from –8.1 to –4.4. While the mixed-wet micromodel with uniformly distributed intermediate-wet patches yields ~0.15 scCO 2 saturation increase at both capillary fingering and crossover flow regimes (–8.1 ≤ logCa ≤ –6.1), the one heterogeneous wetting to scCO 2 results in ~0.09 saturation increase only at the crossover flow regime (–7.1 ≤ logCa ≤ –6.1). The interconnected flow paths in the former are quantified and compared to the channelized scCO 2 flow through intermediate-wet patches in the latter by topological analysis. At logCa > –6.1 (near well), the effects of wettability and pore geometry are suppressed by strong viscous force. Both scCO 2 saturation and distribution suggest the importance of wettability on CO 2 storage efficiency and plume shape in reservoirs and capillary leakage through caprock at GCS conditions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Host-Directed, Bioelectronic Immunomodulation for Protection Against Emerging Pathogens

Acute care of patients with severe infections often relies on systemic administration of pharmaceuticals and monitoring of complex physiological symptoms to identify immune system dysfunction, which can lead to increased mortality. Furthermore, determining disease-specific treatment plans often leads to a delay in patient care. To address this, we proposed an immune modulation system that electrically detects and responds to a patient’s immune system status, creating an agnostic means of treating illness and infection. Two pieces of hardware were developed for this task: a minimally-invasive sensor and a vagus nerve stimulator. Stimulation of the vagus nerve is known to modulate the immune system. The sensor is a microfabricated, silicon-based microneedle array capable of interfacing with interstitial fluid to detect small molecules such as inflammatory proteins (cytokines) and pharmaceuticals (vancomycin). Process optimization to manufacture the needles refined the silicon etch process, creating needle patches long enough to penetrate skin and reach interstitial fluid. The needles were tested for mechanical strength and stability, and did not shatter when inserted into skin models. The needles are coated with a thin film metal, turning them into electrodes for electrochemical sensing of our target molecules. We hybridized aptamers to the surface of the electrode to act as the sensing layer and were able to detect changes in the conformation of the aptamer electrochemically in the presence of the target molecule. The stimulator was a cuff electrode that encircled the vagus nerve. Rodent studies were conducted in which rodents were exposed to an inflammatory event and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was applied. It was demonstrated that optimized electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve created measurably different levels of cytokines in blood samples, and certain cytokines released during the inflammatory event were either upregulated or downregulated. In sum, this project successfully developed new platforms and technologies that can, with further development, enable better temporal insight into biomarker changes in the body, letting healthcare providers know of possible immune system dysfunction before they are detected physiologically. We also demonstrated the value of VNS and its possible use in treating immune system response to inflammation and illness.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Kelvin–Helmholtz Instability at the Boundary of Relativistic Magnetized Jets

We study the linear stability of a planar interface separating two fluids in relative motion, focusing on conditions appropriate for the boundaries of relativistic jets. The jet is magnetically dominated, whereas the ambient wind is gas-pressure-dominated. We derive the most general form of the dispersion relation and provide an analytical approximation of its solution for an ambient sound speed much smaller than the jet Alfvén speed v A , as appropriate for realistic systems. The stability properties are chiefly determined by the angle ψ between the wavevector and the jet magnetic field. For ψ = π/2, magnetic tension plays no role, and our solution resembles the one of a gas-pressure-dominated jet. Here, only sub-Alfvénic jets are unstable ($0\lt {M}_{e}\equiv (v/{v}_{{\rm{A}}})\cos \theta \lt 1$ , where v is the shear velocity and θ the angle between the velocity and the wavevector). For ψ = 0, the free energy in the velocity shear needs to overcome the magnetic tension, and only super-Alfvénic jets are unstable ($1\lt {M}_{e}\lt \sqrt{{(1+{{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{w}^{2})/[1+({v}_{{\rm{A}}}/c)}^{2}{{\rm{\Gamma }}}_{w}^{2}]}$, with Γ w the wind adiabatic index). Our results have important implications for the propagation and emission of relativistic magnetized jets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

An adaptive moments-based interface reconstruction using intersection of the cell with one half-plane, two half-planes and a circle

We present a new adaptive moment-of-fluid (A-MOF) interface reconstruction method. It uses the zeroth, first, and second moments of the fragment of material inside a cell of the mesh to construct a shape that approximates the respective material fragment. The new method requires information about the material moments only for the cell under consideration. The adaptive method chooses between shapes obtained by the intersection of the cell with one half-plane, two half-planes, or a circle. The A-MOF method allows to exactly reproduce several convex shapes: corners, filaments, and their concave cell-complements; as well as pieces of the circles and its cell-compliments. Interface reconstruction is formulated as a local (for each cell), non-linear, equality constrained optimization problem, which does not require additional communication and allows for an efficient parallel implementation. In conclusion, we present an extensive set of test problems, both for interface reconstruction on a single cell, and for reconstruction of a variety of shapes on the entire mesh.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Inertial dynamics of an interface with interfacial mass flux: Stability and flow fields’ structure, inertial stabilization mechanism, degeneracy of Landau’s solution, effect of energy fluctuations, and chemistry-induced instabilities

This work focuses on the long-standing problem of inertial dynamics of an interface with interfacial mass flux and reports new mechanisms for the interface stabilization and destabilization. The interface is a phase boundary separating fluids of different densities and having interfacial mass flux. To analyze the interface dynamics from a far field, we develop and apply the general matrix method to rigorously solve the boundary value problem involving the governing equations in the fluid bulk and the boundary conditions at the interface and at the outside boundaries of the domain. We find the fundamental solutions for the linearized system of equations and analyze the interplay of interface stability with flow fields’ structure by directly linking rigorous mathematical attributes to physical observables. We find that the interface is stable when the dynamics conserves the fluxes of mass, momentum, and energy; the stabilization is due to an inertial mechanism causing small oscillations of the interface velocity. In the classic Landau’s dynamics, the postulate of perfect constancy of the interface velocity leads to the development of Landau–Darrieus instability. This destabilization is also linked to the imbalance of the perturbed energy at the interface. The classic Landau’s solution is found to have degeneracy; lifting of the degeneracy may lead to singularity and self-similar dynamics. Our results compare well with traditional theories of combustion and propose new experiments to study the dynamics of the interface and the flow fields in combustible systems. We further conduct reactive molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the complexity of chemical processes, to study the destabilizing effect of energy fluctuations on the interface stability, and to illustrate the chemistry-induced instabilities. In summary, we identify the extreme sensitivity of the interface dynamics to the interfacial boundary conditions, including the formal properties of fundamental solutions and the qualitative and quantitative properties of the flow fields. This provides new opportunities for studies, diagnostics, and control of multiphase flows in a broad range of processes in nature and technology.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Apparatus, turbine nozzle and turbine shroud

An apparatus is disclosed including a first and second article, a first interface volume disposed between and enclosed by the first article and second article, a cooling fluid supply, and at least one cooling fluid channel in fluid communication with the cooling fluid supply and the first interface volume. The first article includes a first material composition. The second article includes a second material composition. The at least one cooling fluid channel includes a heat exchange portion disposed in at least one of the first and second article downstream of the cooling fluid supply and upstream of the first interface volume. A turbine shroud is disclosed wherein the first and second articles are an outer and inner shroud. A turbine nozzle is disclosed wherein the first and second articles are an endwall and fairing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Thirty years at LANL - case study [Slides]

Outline: Different perspective on interface reconstruction; Moments-based interface reconstruction - moment of fluid (MOF), MOF 2 ; Moments and their meaning, reference ellipse; Examples of reconstruction in one cell; Interface reconstruction in one cell; Interface reconstruction on full mesh; Advection; Interface remapping; Arbitrary Langrangian-Eulerian Methods - Sketch; Possible Extensions; Conclusion and Future Work.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Distinct Chemistries Explain Decoupling of Slip and Wettability in Atomically Smooth Aqueous Interfaces

Despite essentially identical crystallography and equilibrium structuring of water, nanoscopic channels composed of hexagonal boron nitride and graphite exhibit an order-of-magnitude difference in fluid slip. We investigate this difference using molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrating that its origin is in the distinct chemistries of the two materials. In particular, the presence of polar bonds in hexagonal boron nitride, absent in graphite, leads to Coulombic interactions between the polar water molecules and the wall. We demonstrate that this interaction is manifested in a large typical lateral force experienced by a layer of oriented hydrogen atoms in the vicinity of the wall, leading to the enhanced friction in hexagonal boron nitride. The fluid adhesion to the wall is dominated by dispersive forces in both materials, leading to similar wettabilities. Finally, our results rationalize recent observations that the difference in frictional characteristics of graphite and hexagonal boron nitride cannot be explained on the basis of the minor differences in their wettabilities.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dynamics of active liquid interfaces

Controlling interfaces of phase-separating fluid mixtures is key to the creation of diverse functional soft materials. Traditionally, this is accomplished with surface-modifying chemical agents. Using experiment and theory, we studied how mechanical activity shapes soft interfaces that separate an active and a passive fluid. Chaotic flows in the active fluid give rise to giant interfacial fluctuations and noninertial propagating active waves. At high activities, stresses disrupt interface continuity and drive droplet generation, producing an emulsion-like active state composed of finite-sized droplets. When in contact with a solid boundary, active interfaces exhibit nonequilibrium wetting transitions, in which the fluid climbs the wall against gravity. These results demonstrate the promise of mechanically driven interfaces for creating a new class of soft active matter.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2022

A level set approach for the computational study of a yield stress fluid filling a thin mold

Many important engineering and scientific applications such as cement slurries, foams, crude oil, and granular avalanches involve the concept of yield stress. Therefore, modeling yield stress fluids in different flow configurations, including the accurate prediction of the yield surface, is important. In this paper, we present a computational model based on the finite element method to study the flow of yield stress fluids in a thin mold and compare the results with data from flow visualization experiments. Here, we use the level set method to describe the interface between the filling fluid and air. We use polypropylene glycol as a model Newtonian fluid and Carbopol for the model yield stress fluid, as the Carbopol solution demonstrates yielding without thixotropy. To describe the yielding and shear-thinning behavior, we use a generalized Newtonian constitutive equation with a Bingham–Carreau–Yasuda form. We compare the results obtained from the mold filling experiments with the results from the three-dimensional (3D) model and from a reduced-order Hele-Shaw (HS) model that is two-dimensional, including the effect of shear-thinning along the thin direction only approximately. We show that both the 3D and the HS model can capture the experimental meniscus shape reasonably well for all the fluids considered at three different flow rates. This indicates that the shape evolution is insensitive to the dimensionality of the model. However, the viscosity and yield surfaces predicted by the 3D and HS models are different. The HS model underestimates the high viscosity and unyielded regions compared to the estimation by the 3D model.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sequentially coupled flow and geomechanical simulation with a discrete fracture model for analyzing fracturing fluid recovery and distribution in fractured ultra-low permeability gas reservoirs

More accurate characterization and prediction of the in-situ distribution of fracturing fluid in fractured reservoirs are needed for enhancing well productivity. In this study, an implicit-sequentially coupled flow/geomechanics simulator incorporating an efficient discrete fracture model is developed to model fluid distribution and recovery performance of ultra-low permeability gas reservoirs. The finite-volume and finite-element methods are used for space discretization of the flow and geomechanics equations, respectively, while the backward Euler method is employed for time discretization. The flow and geomechanics equations are solved sequentially based on fixed-stress splitting. An efficient discrete-fracture model is used to explicitly model the fractured system. Flexible unstructured gridding is employed to model arbitrarily-oriented fractures. The interrelations among pore volume, permeability and geomechanical conditions are considered dynamically using two-way coupled flow and geomechanics computations. The geometry of fracture (networks) due to hydraulic fracturing has significant impacts on the fracturing fluid recovery efficiency and ensuing fluid distribution. Under the same injection volume, the fracturing fluid recovery is higher when the fracture geometry is planar. Fluid recovery is relatively lower whenever natural fractures are activated during fracturing treatments; flowback time is also shortened when complex fracture network with enlarged fracture interface is present. Fracturing fluid in hydraulic fractures may leak off into the natural fractures and subsequently imbibes into the surrounding matrix due to capillarity effects. The fracturing fluid recovery and in-situ fluid distribution are sensitive to the shut-in duration and fracture closure behavior. This study analyzes the coupled flow-geomechanical responses of fractured gas reservoirs during the post-fracturing periods. Understanding the fate of the fracturing fluid can provide insights on, to some extent, the stimulated fracture volume, size of the water invasion zone, and efficiency of the fracturing design. The simulation predictions can also provide more accurate initial reservoir conditions (e.g. distributions of different phases and pressure) for long-term well performance estimation.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Non-local model for surface tension in fluid-fluid simulations

We propose a non-local model for surface tension obtained in the form of an integral of a molecular-force-like function with support 3.5e added to the Navier-Stokes momentum conservation equation. We demonstrate analytically and numerically that with the non-local model interfaces with a radius of curvature larger than the support length behave macroscopically and microscopically, otherwise. For static droplets, the pressure difference Pe,in - Pe,out satisfies the Young-Laplace law for droplet radius greater than 3.5e and other- wise deviates from the Young-Laplace law. The latter indicates that the surface tension in the proposed model decreases with decreasing radius of curvature, which agrees with molecular dynamics and experimental studies of nanodroplets. Using the non-local model we perform numerical simulations of droplets under dynamic conditions, including a rising droplet, a droplet in shear flow, and two colliding droplets in shear flow, and compare results with a standard Navier-Stokes model subject to the Young-Laplace boundary condition at the fluid-fluid interface implemented via the Conservative Level Set (CLS) method. We find good agreement with existing numerical methods and analytical results for a rising macroscopic droplet and a droplet in a shear flow. For colliding droplets in shear flow, the non- local model converges (with respect to the grid size) to the correct behavior, including sliding, coalescence, and merging and breaking of two droplets depending on the capillary number. In contrast, we find that the results of the CLS model are highly grid-size dependent.

Howard, Amanda A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Micro-continuum approach for mineral precipitation

Abstract Rates and extents of mineral precipitation in porous media are difficult to predict, in part because laboratory experiments are problematic. It is similarly challenging to implement numerical methods that model this process due to the need to dynamically evolve the interface of solid material. We developed a multiphase solver that implements a micro-continuum simulation approach based on the Darcy–Brinkman–Stokes equation to study mineral precipitation. We used the volume-of-fluid technique in sharp interface implementation to capture the propagation of the solid mineral surface. Additionally, we utilize an adaptive mesh refinement method to improve the resolution of near interface simulation domain dynamically. The developed solver was validated against both analytical solution and Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian approach to ensure its accuracy on simulating the propagation of the solid interface. The precipitation of barite (BaSO 4 ) was chosen as a model system to test the solver using variety of simulation parameters: different geometrical constraints, flow conditions, reaction rate and ion diffusion. The growth of a single barite crystal was simulated to demonstrate the solver’s capability to capture the crystal face specific directional growth.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ephemeral antibubbles: Spatiotemporal evolution from direct numerical simulations

Antibubbles, which consist of a shell of a low-density fluid inside a high-density fluid, have several promising applications. We show, via extensive direct numerical simulations (DNSs), in both two and three dimensions, that the spatiotemporal evolution of antibubbles can be described naturally by the coupled Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes (CHNS) equations for a binary fluid. Our DNSs capture elegantly the gravity-induced thinning and breakup of an antibubble via the time evolution of the Cahn-Hilliard scalar-order-parameter field $\phi$, which varies continuously across interfaces, so we do not have to enforce complicated boundary conditions at the moving antibubble interfaces. To ensure that our results are robust, we supplement our CHNS simulations with sharp-interface volume-of-fluid DNSs. We track the thickness of the antibubble and calculate the dependence of the lifetime of an antibubble on several parameters; we show that our DNS results agree with various experimental results; in particular, the velocity with which the arms of the antibubble retract after breakup scales as σ 1/2 , where σ is the surface tension.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fluctuating hydrodynamics and the Rayleigh–Plateau instability

The Rayleigh–Plateau instability occurs when surface tension makes a fluid column become unstable to small perturbations. At nanometer scales, thermal fluctuations are comparable to interfacial energy densities. Consequently, at these scales, thermal fluctuations play a significant role in the dynamics of the instability. These microscopic effects have previously been investigated numerically using particle-based simulations, such as molecular dynamics (MD), and stochastic partial differential equation–based hydrodynamic models, such as stochastic lubrication theory. In this paper, we present an incompressible fluctuating hydrodynamics model with a diffuse-interface formulation for binary fluid mixtures designed for the study of stochastic interfacial phenomena. An efficient numerical algorithm is outlined and validated in numerical simulations of stable equilibrium interfaces. We present results from simulations of the Rayleigh–Plateau instability for long cylinders pinching into droplets for Ohnesorge numbers of Oh = 0.5 and 5.0. Both stochastic and perturbed deterministic simulations are analyzed and ensemble results show significant differences in the temporal evolution of the minimum radius near pinching. Short cylinders, with lengths less than their circumference, were also investigated. As previously observed in MD simulations, we find that thermal fluctuations cause these to pinch in cases where a perturbed cylinder would be stable deterministically. Finally, we show that the fluctuating hydrodynamics model can be applied to study a broader range of surface tension–driven phenomena.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗