MICHAEL MANGA: Recent Refereed Publications
Abstracts
Manga, M. (1996) Dynamics of drops in branched tubes,
Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 315, 105-117.
Abstract:
The flow of two-dimensional
deformable drops through branching (bifurcating)
tubes is studied numerically using
a boundary integral formulation.
The undeformed drop diameter is assumed to be less than the tube
diameter. Capillary numbers between 10^-2 and 1 are considered.
Flow in the branching tube is characterized by the fraction of fluid which
enters each of the two downstream branches.
The likelihood of drops
entering the high flow-rate branch increases as
1) the viscosity ratio between the drops and suspending fluid decreases,
2) the capillary number increases, and 3) the drop size increases.
Hydrodynamic interactions between the suspended drops
increase the number of drops which enter the low flow-rate branch.
The implications of these results on dispersion processes and local
transport are explored. The disturbance flow created by drops passing over
"dead-end" pores or cavities
results in fluid transfer between the pore and the free-stream;
suspensions
may then be effective in improving the "cleaning" of porous materials.
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