Graduation date: 2003

The Melnikov method is applied to a model of parametrically generated cross-waves in a long rectangular channel in order to determine if these cross-waves are chaotic. A great deal of preparation is involved in order to obtain a suitable form for the application of the Melnikov method. The Lagrangian for water waves, which consists of the volume integrals of the kinetic energy density, potential energy density, and a dynamic pressure component, is transformed to surface integrals in order to avoid constant conjugate momenta. The Lagrangian is simplified by subtracting the zero variation integrals and written in terms of generalized coordinates, the time dependent components of the crosswave and progressive wave velocity potentials. The conjugate momenta are calculated after expanding the Lagrangian in a Taylor series. The Hamiltonian is then determined by a Legendre transformation of the Lagrangian. Ordinarily, the first order evolution equations obtained from derivatives of the Hamiltonian are suitable for applications of the Melnikov method. However, the crosswave model results in extremely complicated evolution equations which must be simplified before a Melnikov analysis is possible. A sequence of seven canonical transformations are applied and yield a final set of evolution equations in fairly simple form. The unperturbed system is analyzed to determine hyperbolic fixed points and the equations describing the heteroclinic orbits for near resonance cases. The Melnikov function is calculated for the perturbed system which must also satisfy KAM conditions. The Melnikov results indicate the system is chaotic near resonance. Furthermore, the heteroclinic orbits, about which chaotic motions occur, are transformed back to the original set of variables and found to be extremely complicated; this orbit would be impossible to determine analytically without the canonical transformations. The theoretical results were verified by experiments. Poincare maps obtained from measurements of the free surface displacement indicate both quasi-periodic and chaotic motions of the water surface. Power spectra and time series of the water surface displacement are also analyzed for chaotic behavior, with less conclusive results. Stability diagrams of cross-wave generation confirm behavior consistent with parametric excitation. / Graduation date: 1994

In many engineering applications involving mixing of highly viscous fluids or mixing at micro-scales, efficient mixing must be accomplished in the absence of turbulence. Similarly in geophysical flows large-scale, deterministic flow structures can account for a considerable portion of global transport and mixing. For these types of problems, concepts from non-linear dynamical systems and the theory of chaotic advection provide the tools for understanding, quantifying, and optimizing transport and mixing processes. In this thesis chaotic advection is studied numerically in three, steady, experimentally realizable, three-dimensional flows: 1) steady vortex breakdown flow in a cylindrical container with bottom rotating lid, 2) flow in a cylindrical container with exactly counter rotating lids, and 3) flow in a new model stirred-tank with counter-rotating disks. For all cases the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically and the Lagrangian properties of the computed velocity fields are analyzed using a variety of computational and theoretical tools. For the flow in the interior of vortex breakdown bubbles it is shown that even though from the Eulerian viewpoint the simulated flow fields are steady and nearly axisymmetric the Lagrangian dynamics could be chaotic. Silnikovs mechanism is shown to play a critical role in breaking up the invariance of the bubble and giving rise to chaotic dynamics. The computations for the steady flow in a cylindrical container with two exactly counter-rotating lids confirm for the first time the findings of recent linear stability studies. Above a threshold Reynolds number the equatorial shear layer becomes unstable to azimuthal modes and an intricate web of radial (cats eyes) and axial, azimuthally-inclined vortices emerge in the flow paving the way for extremely complex chaotic dynamics. Using these fundamental insights, a new stirring tank device with exactly counter-rotating disks is proposed. Results show for the first time that counter rotation of the middle disk in a three-disk stirred tank can create a flow with large chaotic regions. The results of this thesis serve to demonstrate that fundamental studies of chaotic mixing are both important from a theoretical standpoint and can potentially lead to valuable technological breakthroughs.

The effect of finite Reynolds numbers on chaotic advection is investigated for two dimensional lid-driven cavity flows that exhibit topological chaos in the creeping flow regime. The emphasis in this endeavor is to study how the inertial effects present due to small, but non-zero, Reynolds number influence the efficacy of mixing. A spectral method code based on the Fourier-Chebyshev method for two-dimensional flows is developed to solve the Navier-Stokes and species transport equations. The high sensitivity to initial conditions and the exponentional growth of errors in chaotic flows necessitate an accurate solution of the flow variables, which is provided by the exponentially convergent spectral methods. Using the spectral coefficients of the basis functions as solved through the conservation equations, exponentially accurate values of velocity everywhere in the flow domain are obtained as required for the Lagrangian particle tracking. Techniques such as Poincare maps, the stirring index based on the box counting method, and the tracking of passive scalars in the flow are used to analyze the topological chaos and quantify the mixing efficiency.

Experiments were conducted in electroosmotic flow (EOF) with 0.005≤Re ≤ 0.039 on mixing enhancement in 3-D helical microchannels. Both inlet velocity and concentration distribution along the flow channel were measurement via £gPIV and £gLIF technique respectively. The experimental results showed that the helical channels can generate nearly fully chaotic flow and achieve the complete mixing in a relatively short channel with three different helical channels (3, 4, and 6 inlet channels), and the four-inlet channel found to have the best mixing efficiency. Finally, the mixing length was correlated into a form of £f/Dh = 2.8Pe0.35 within ¡Ó8% accuracy between the experiments and prediction.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-297). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): John Arquilla, George Lober. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-102). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Title from title screen (viewed July 18, 2003). "June 2002." Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-102). Also issued in paper format.