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Particle suspensions are common both in nature and in various technological applications. The complex nature of hydrodynamic interactions between particles and the solvent makes such analysis difficult that often requires numerical modeling to understand the behavior of particle suspensions. In this dissertation, we employ a hybrid computational model that integrates a lattice spring model for solid mechanics and a lattice Boltzmann model for fluid dynamics. We use this model to study several practical problems in which the dynamics of spherical and spheroidal particles and deformable capsules in dilute suspensions plays an important role. The results of our studies yield new information regarding the dynamics of solid particle in pressure-driven channel flows and disclose the nonlinear effects associated with fluid inertia leading to particle cross-stream migration. This information not only give us a fundamental insight into the dynamics of dilute suspensions, but also yield engineering guidelines for designing high throughput microfluidic devices for sorting and separation of synthetic particles and biological cells. We first demonstrate that spherical particles can be size-separated in ridged microchannels. Specifically, particles with different sizes follow distinct trajectories as a result of the nonlinear inertial effects and secondary flows created by diagonal ridges in the channel. Then, separation of biological cells by their differential stiffness is studied and compared with experimental results. Cells with different stiffness squeeze through narrow gaps between solid diagonal ridges and channel wall, and migrate across the microchannel with different rates depending on their stiffness. This deformability-based microfluidic platform may be valuable for separating diseased cells from healthy cells, as a variety of cell pathologies manifest through the change in mechanical cell stiffness. Finally, the dynamics of spheroid particles in simple shear and Poiseuille flows are studied. Stable rotational motion, cross-stream migration, and equilibrium trajectories of non-spherical particles in flow are investigated. Effects of particle and fluid inertia on dynamics of particles are disclosed. The dependence of equilibrium trajectory on particle shape reveals a potential application for shape based particle separation.

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This thesis consists of research work in the broad area of soft condensed matter theory with a focus on active matter. The study of long wavelength, low frequency collective behavior of active particles (bacterial suspensions, fish schools, motor-microtubule extracts, active gels) forms an interesting modification to liquid-crystal hydrodynamics, in which the constituent particles carry permanent stresses that stir the fluid. Activity introduces novel instabilities and many novel aspects emerge. Our works focus on the dynamics, order, fluctuations and instabilities in these systems. In particular, we investigated the dynamics, order and fluctuation properties emerging from effective hydrodynamic descriptions of translationally ordered active matter and also studied those in microwave-driven quantum Hall nematics. We also investigated the rheological properties of active suspensions subjected to an applied orienting field. A summary of the works carried out is as follows. Translationally ordered active phases – active smectics and active cholesterics: Active or self-propelled particles consume and dissipate energy generating permanent stresses that stir the fluid around them. The collective behavior of systems of active particles, in systems with translational order, pose interesting questions and possibilities of new physics that differ strikingly from those in systems at thermal equilibrium with the same spatial symmetry. We developed the hydrodynamic equations of motion for (a) an active system with spontaneously broken translational symmetry in one direction, i.e., smectic and (b) the simplest uniaxially ordered phase of active chiral objects, namely, an active cholesteric. We analyze the fluctuation properties as well as the nature of characteristic instabilities that these systems can display and make a number of predictions. For example, in the case of an active smectic, we show that active stresses generate an effective active layer tension which, if positive, sup-presses the Landau-Peierls effect, leading to long-range smectic order in dimension d =3 and quasi-long-range in d =2, in sharp contrast with thermal equilibrium systems. Negative active layer tension in bulk systems, however, lead to a spontaneous Helfrich-Hurault undulation instability of the layers, accompanied by spontaneous flow. Also, active smectics, unlike orientationally ordered active systems, normally have finite concentration fluctuations. Similarly, for the case of cholesterics we show that cholesteric elasticity intervenes to suppress some of the instabilities present in active nematics. xi Numerical simulation of active smectics: We present results from a Brownian Dynamics simulation, with no hydrodynamic interaction, of a system of apolar active particles form-ing translational liquid-crystalline order in a suspension. The particles interact through a prolate-ellipsoidal Gay-Berne potential. We model activity minimally through different noise temperatures for movement along and normal to the orientation axis of each particle. We present preliminary results on the disruptive effect of activity on smectic order for the parameter values investigated. Future work will test the predictions of our theory [1] on active smectics. Rheology of active suspensions near field-induced critical points : Shear induces orientation of active stresses in a suspension, through flow alignment. Depending on the sign, activity then either enhances or reduces the viscosity. The change in viscosity, in the zero frequency limit, is proportional to the product of the magnitude of active stress and the system relaxation time. A strong enough orienting field can make the system approach a critical point and the relaxation time diverges. We show that, this results in the divergence of viscosity at zero frequency making the system strongly viscoelastic. Depending on the sign, activity strengthens or reduces the effect of the field. We also investigate the rheological property of an active suspension with mixed polar and nematic oreder. Active quantum Hall systems: We construct the hydrodynamic theory for a 2d charged active nematic with 3d electrostatics. We have investigated the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and activity in these systems. We show that activity competes to enhance the charge density fluctuations normally suppressed by long-ranged Coulomb interactions. The charge structure factor Sq of the corresponding passive charged nematic goes to zero as q, whereas in charged active nematics, activity leads to a nonvanishing charge structure factor at small wavenumber. We also show how the effect of an applied magnetic field can be incorporated into the dynamics of the system and leave scope for further studies on these effects.

[pt] Muitas suspensões de partículas se comportam como materiais tixotrópicos e estão presente em muitos processos industriais, incluindo aplicações de revestimentos de filmes finos. Especificamente, operações de extrusão de fluidos tixotrópicos estão envolvidos na produção de eletrodos de baterias. Na maioria dos casos, o escoamento de suspensões de partículas é descrito por modelos independentes no tempo, que assumem que a viscosidade como uma função somente da taxa local de deformação local. No entanto, a viscosidade dos fluidos tixotrópicos é associada com a evolução do seu nível de microestruturação que não muda instantaneamente com a tensão (ou taxa de deformação). No caso da imposição de uma tensão constante (ou taxa de cisalhamento), a microstrutura evolui até alcançar um estado de equilíbrio, porém este processo leva tempo. Mesmo em escoamentos em regime permanente, o líquido escoa através de regiões onde tem mudanças significativas nos níveis de tensão, sendo assim o escoamento transiente de um ponto de vista Lagrangiano. Então, assumir que a viscosidade, em todo ponto do escoamento, é à viscosidade em regime permanente pode gerar uma descrição errada do escoamento. A magnitude relativa do tempo de resposta do líquido e do seu tempo de residência torna-se num parâmetro importante, especialmente em escoamentos em pequena escala com tempos de residência muito curtos. O escoamento de um líquido tixotrópico através de um microcapilar com constrição e no processo de revestimento por extrusão foram analisados aqui, usando dois modelos reológicos: um modelo independente no tempo (TIM) e um modelo tixotrópico que leva em conta a resposta transiente do líquido. O conjunto de equações não lineares foi resolvido utilizando o método de Galerkin/SUPG de elementos finitos. Os resultados mostram que o uso de um modelo simples TIM para descrever materiais tixotrópicos, como suspensões de partículas, pode levar a erros muito significativos na predição do comportamento de escoamento. Além disso, os modelos independentes no tempo não têm a capacidade de predizer certos fenômenos de escoamento, como a histerese, que pode gerar escoamentos instáveis. Essas imprecisões indicam a necessidade de usar um modelo mais completo que considere a resposta transiente do líquido. / [en] Many particle suspensions behave as thixotropic-viscous materials and they are present in different industrial processes, including coating applications. Specifically, the production of battery electrodes involves slot coating of a thixotropic liquid. In most cases, the flow of slurries and other particle suspensions is described by using a time-independent model that assumes the viscosity to be solely a function of the local deformation rate. However, the viscosity of thixotropic fluids is associated to the evolution of its microstructuring level, which does not change instantaneously with the shear stress (or deformation rate). In the case of imposing constant shear stress (or shear rate), the microstructure evolves until reaching an equilibrium state; but this process takes time. Even in a steady-state flow, the liquid flows through regions where there are significant changes in the levels of shear stress and the flow is transient in a Lagrangian point of view. Therefore, assuming that the viscosity at each point of the flow is the steady-state viscosity described by a time-independent model may lead to an inaccurate flow description. The relative magnitude of the characteristic response time of the liquid and the residence time of the flow becomes an important parameter. This is particularly relevant in small scale flows with very small residence time. Flows of a thixotropic-viscous liquid through a constricted microcapillary and in a slot coating process were analyzed here using two rheological models: a time-independent model (TIM) and a thixotropic model that takes into account the liquid time-dependent response. The resulting set of fully coupled, non-linear equations was solved by the Galerkin and SUPG Finite Element Method. The results show that the use of a TIM to describe thixotropic viscous materials, such as some particle suspensions, can lead to very large errors on the predicted flow behavior. Furthermore, time-independent models are not able to predict complex flow phenomena, like hysteresis, which could lead to unstable flows. These inaccuracies highlight the need for a more complete model that takes into account time-dependency of the flowing liquid in a certain range of flow parameters.