The effect of shear on the evolution of floc properties was investigated to analyse the flocculation mechanisms. Little fundamental attention has been given to the shear influence that often creates compact aggregates, while the floc characteristics might differ in other aggregating conditions. It is thus crucial to understand how flocs evolve to steady state, if their properties are to be 'tailored' to suit subsequent solids-liquid separation processes. In this work, flocculation of monodisperse latex particles of various sizes (60, 380, and 810 nm diameter) via electrolyte addition was carried out in a couette-flow and also in shear fields generated by an axial-flow impeller (Fluid foil A310) and a radial-flow impeller (Rushton R100) in standard mixing tanks. A small-angle light scattering technique was used to acquire information regarding the time variation of floc properties in a non-intrusive manner. The structure was quantified by a measure of fractal dimension, signifying the degree of floc compactness. Estimates of the average floc mass were also obtained from the aggregate scattering patterns. By monitoring the changes in floc structure and mass, corresponding to the size evolution; mechanisms of floc formation, fragmentation, and restructuring were identified. Aggregates of 60 and 380 nm particles were observed to grew larger initially, before decreasing to their equilibrium sizes at moderate shear rates (32 - 100 s-1) in a homogeneous shear environment. Floc restructuring at large length scales occurred extensively, and was responsible for the drop in size, particularly at the early stage of the process. Aggregates of 810 nm particles did not, however, display this behaviour. Flocs of larger primary particles were presumably susceptible to breakage rather than deformation, as they were weaker under comparable conditions. Denser aggregates were found when restructuring transpired, while comparatively tenuous flocs were observed when formation and breakage kinetics were the governing mechanisms. The disparity in floc behaviour at higher shear rates (246 s-1 - 330 s-1) was less apparent. The intense hydrodynamic stresses in those instances inevitably caused fragmentation, regardless of the intrinsic particle properties; hence the observed floc compaction was the product of break-up and re-aggregation. A population balance model, incorporating variation in floc structure, displayed comparable trends in size evolution; verifying that restructuring indeed took an important role under certain flocculation conditions. Similar phenomena were likewise observed with the flocculation in stirred tanks. The results reinforced findings in literature; that while circulation time controlled the process kinetics; the floc size was determined by the turbulent stresses. In addition, the maximum shear levels also influenced the floc structures, with denser aggregates produced in a shear field generated using the radial-flow impeller at equivalent energy dissipation per-unit mass. A correlation between non-dimensional floc factor that embodied the aggregate size and structure, and aggregation factor comprising the significant parameters from flocculation conditions, was proposed. The proposed relationship takes into account aspects such as the aggregate structure, interparticle forces, and particle concentration that are often overlooked in existing relationships, which usually only relate the maximum floc size to the applied energy dissipation rate. It thus provides an improved manner of presenting general flocculation data, as well as a means to predict floc properties produced under a specific aggregation condition. Future studies with increasingly complex systems that resemble real conditions are recommended in order to establish a practical understanding of the flocculation mechanisms, for the purpose of optimising the aggregate properties.

An experimental investigation of axial and near - axial flow over long slender cylinders, which involved both flow visualisation and hot - wire anemometry, is detailed. The investigation of this type of flow was instigated by the current interest in towed underwater sonar arrays. The need to discriminate between background noise of mechanical origin and the flow - induced noise generated on a moving underwater soundrecording device has produced a requirement for a greater understanding of the larger scale, lower frequency, turbulent flow processes in the wake and the boundary layer of a cylinder in both axial and near - axial flow. Of particular interest are any regular periodic fluid - dynamic processes. Thick axisymmetric boundary layers with the ratio of outer - layer length scale ( the boundary - layer thickness δ ) to cylinder radius a in the range 31 [approximately equal to or less than] δ / a [approximately equal to or less than] 38 and the corresponding ratio of cylinder radius to the inner - layer length scale ( the viscous length v / U [subscript τ] ) in the range 22 [approximately equal to or less than] aU [subscript τ] / v = a [superscript +] [approximately equal to or less than] 41 have been investigated. In accord with previous experimental results their mean - flow and turbulence properties are found to be strongly influenced by transverse curvature and to diverge significantly from those of flat - plate boundary layers. A characteristic feature of such thick axisymmetric layers is the occurrence of " spots " of low - speed fluid which are attributed to displacement of inner - layer fluid by large - scale turbulent cross - flows. A front of low - speed fluid which propagates radially across the boundary layer is identified as the primary large - scale, low - frequency, coherent structure within the boundary layer turbulence. A flow mechanism that describes the process by which these fronts are formulated on the basis of the experimental evidence formed from low - speed spots is obtained. The stripping of low - speed fluid from the cylinder surface by large - scale crossflows within the turbulent boundary layer is seen as an additional vorticity - and turbulence - generating mechanism, which cannot occur in a flat - plate layer. When the cylinder is yawed to the free - stream, an attached boundary layer persists over a small range of yaw angle, before flow separation occurs. In this range the boundary layer becomes extremely asymmetric, even at yaw angles less than 1 °. The asymmetry and mean - flow properties of such layers have been investigated for yaw angles of 0.25 ° and 0.5 ° at several Reynolds numbers in the range 300 [approximately equal to or less than] Re [subscript a] [approximately equal to or less than] 600. At somewhat larger yaw angles, a new regime of regular vortex - shedding in near - axial flow has been identified. From the experimental results, an empirical relation for the vortex - shedding frequency ( in terms of yaw angle, vortex - shedding angle, and a Reynolds number based on the component of free - stream velocity normal to the vortex axes ) has been derived as an extension of the Roshko formula for the frequency of vortex shedding from cylinders with their axes normal to the flow. The results presented advance the current understanding of the fundamental fluid mechanics of cylinders in axial and near - axial flow, and thereby have the potential to contribute to the advancement of the signal - processing techniques applied to towed underwater sonar arrays. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.

There are two main goals of this thesis: to investigate the flow-induced crystallization behaviour of Polybutene-1 (PB-1 samples, and to study the effects of molecular parameters on the crystallization behaviour While flow-induced crystallization is not a new area in polymer research, well-defined experimental methods that allow access to high flow rate range comparable to that encountered in real processing are still lacking. Two types of flow are considered: shear and uniaxial elongational. Regarding the second aim, several molecular parameters considered are: molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, isotacticity, presence of nucleating agents, and copolymer content. For this purpose an array of PB-1 samples were used. It is found that each of these parameters can have significant effect on the crystallization behaviour. Mainly rheological methods were utilized to conduct the flow-induced crystallization experiments. Crystallization onset time is define d from the change in viscosity or other related parameters. The experiments begin with low shear rate range, to ensure that the results are comparable with literature data. In this range we encounter the quasi-quiescent onset time at very small. shear rates, which draws an interesting comparison with another physical parameter, the gel time. Beyond a critical flow rate a decrease in the onset time is seen, and a plateau-and-slope trend is evident for a curve of onset time vs. shear rate. Using a combination of three experimental methods, shear rates ranging from Q0001 - 500 s-1 are successfully achieved, and a good agreement between these methods is observed. Furthermore, a normalization procedure is introduced, which yields temperature-invariant curves for the mentioned range of shear rate. For the uniaxial elongation flow, the Elongational Viscosity Fixture (EVF) is employed, with the strain rate ranging from 0.0001 - 10 s'. A greater reduction in onset time as compared to shear (at the same shear/strain r ate) is observed, and the difference in the onset times for shear and elongation already reaches more than one decade for a flow rate of 10 5. This quantitative comparison is particularly important; since not so many data on elongation-induced crystallization are available in the literature. Finally, the thesis compares several flow induced crystallization models that can be useful as prediction tools and selects one of these models to be compared with the experimental data. A qualitative agreement is found, however, for better quantitative prediction the model still needs to be.

This thesis deals with fibre orientation in wall-bounded shear flows. The primary application in mind is papermaking. The study is mainly experimental,but is complemented with theoretical considerations.The main part of the thesis concerns the orientation of slowly settlingfibres in a wall-bounded viscous shear flow. This is a flow case not dealt withpreviously even at small Reynolds numbers. Experiments were conducted usingdilute suspensions with fibres having aspect ratios of rp ≈ 7 and 30. It is foundthat the wall effect on the orientation is small for distances from the wall wherethe fibre centre is located farther than half a fibre length from the wall. Farfrom the wall most fibres were oriented close to the flow direction. Closer tothe wall than half a fibre length the orientation distribution first shifted to bemore isotropic and in the very proximity of the wall the fibres were orientedclose to perpendicular to the flow direction, nearly aligned with the vorticityaxis. This was most evident for the shorter fibres with rp ≈ 7.Due to the density difference between the fibres and the fluid there is anincreased concentration near the wall. Still, a physical mechanism is requiredin order for a fibre initially oriented close to the flow direction at about half afibre length from the wall to change its orientation to aligned with the vorticityaxis once it has settled down to the wall. A slender body approach is usedin order to estimate the effect of wall reflection and repeated wall contacts onthe fibre rotation. It is found that the both a wall reflection, due to settlingtowards the wall, and contact between the fibre end and the wall are expectedto rotate the fibre closer to the vorticity axis. A qualitative agreement withthe experimental results is found in a numerical study based on the theoreticalestimation.In addition an experimental study on fibre orientation in the boundarylayers of a headbox is reported. The orientation distribution in planes parallelto the wall is studied. The distribution is found to be more anisotropic closerto the wall, i.e. the fibres tend to be oriented closer to the flow direction nearthe wall. This trend is observed sufficiently far upstream in the headbox.Farther downstream no significant change in the orientation distribution couldbe detected for different distances from the wall. / QC 20100706

No description available.

Cardiac valves are dynamic, sophisticated structures which interact closely with the surrounding hemodynamic environment. Altered mechanical stresses, including pressure, shear and bending stresses, are believed to cause changes in valve biology, but the cellular and molecular events involved in these processes are not well characterized. Therefore, the overall goal of this project is to determine the effects of pressure and shear stress on porcine aortic valve leaflets biology. Results from the pressure study showed that elevated constant pressure (140 and 170 mmHg) causes significant increases in collagen synthesis. The increases were 37.5% and 90% for 140 and 170 mmHg, respectively. No significant differences in DNA and sGAG synthesis were observed under constant pressure. In the cyclic pressure study, the effects of both pressure magnitude and pulse frequency were studied. With the frequency fixed at 1.167 Hz, collagen and sGAG synthesis increased proportionally with mean pressure level. At a fixed pressure level (80-120 mmHg), collagen and sGAG synthesis were slightly increased by 25% and 14% at 0.5 Hz, respectively. DNA synthesis was significantly increased by 72% at 2 Hz. An experiment combining high magnitude (150-190 mmHg) and high frequency (2 Hz) demonstrated significant increases in collagen and sGAG synthesis (collagen: 74%, sGAG: 56%), but no significant changes in cell proliferation. Shear levels ranging from 1 to 80 dyne/cm2 were studied. Scanning electron microscopy results indicated that 48 hrs exposure to shear stress did not alter the circumferential alignment of endothelial cells. Collagen synthesis was significantly enhanced at 9 and 25 dyne/cm2, but not different from static controls under other shear conditions. Leaflets denuded of the endothelium were exposed to identical shear stress and showed very different responses. Collagen synthesis was not affected at any shear levels, but sGAG content was increased at shear of 9, 25 and 40 dyne/cm2. Further studies showed that the increases in collagen synthesis under pressure or shear stress was concurrent with a decline in the expression and activities of cathepsins L and S. This converse relationship between collagen synthesis and cathepsin activity indicated that cathepsins might be involved in valvular ECM remodeling.

Cartilage tissue engineering is an emerging treatment option for osteoarthritis and trauma related joint injuries. A continuing challenge for cartilage tissue engineering is increasing construct extracellular matrix production and material properties. Shear stress and oxygen tension play an important role in tissue engineering of cartilage. In this select stimulatory conditions using combinations of shear stress and oxygen tension have been used to enhance the construct extracellular matrix deposition and material properties. Additionally, a perfusion concentric cylinder bioreactor has been developed to incorporate multiple fluid flow regimes through the construct. This thesis attempts to elucidate the effect of shear stress and biochemical conditions on cartilage development in vitro to provide functional tissue engineered constructs.

This study analyzes a turbulent passive scalar field using two-point and three-point correlations of the fluctuating scalar field. Multipoint correlation functions are investigated because they retain scaling property information and simultaneously probe the concentration field for the spatial structure of the scalar filaments. Thus, multipoint correlation functions provide unique information about the spatial properties of the concentration filaments. The concentration field is created by the iso-kinetic release of a high Schmidt number dye into a fully developed turbulent boundary layer of an open channel flow. The concentration fields were previously measured using the planar laser-induced fluorescence technique. The two-point correlations of the fluctuating scalar field indicate that as the scalar field evolves downstream, the anisotropic influence of the tracer injection method diminishes, and the scalar field becomes dominated by the mean velocity shear. As the scalar filaments align with the mean velocity gradient, the elliptical shape associated with the contours of the correlation function tilts in the direction of the mean velocity gradient. As a result, the two-point correlation contours of the concentration fluctuations indicate that anisotropic conditions (i.e. the tilted, asymmetric, elliptical shape) develop as a consequence of the mean velocity shear. Three-point correlations of the fluctuating scalar field are calculated based on configuration geometries defined by previous researchers. The first configuration follows Mydlarski and Warhaft (1998), which employs two cold-wire measurements and Taylor's frozen turbulence hypothesis. The three-point correlation contours of the concentration fluctuations associated with the cold-wire measurements exhibit a symmetric characteristic V-shape. Similar symmetric properties are observed in the current study. The second set of configurations follows on recent theoretical predictions, which indicate that the three-point correlation of the fluctuating scalar field is dependent on the size, shape, and orientation of the triangle created by the three points. The current study analyzes two geometric configurations (isosceles and collinear). The geometric configurations are defined to ensure that the influence of the shape remains constant as the configuration is rotated, translated, and dilated. Additionally, the scaling exponent in the inertial-convective regime is calculated to determine the dependence of the correlation function on the size of the triangle pattern.

During inflammation and thrombosis, leukocytes tether to and roll on vascular surfaces and platelets through selectin molecules under shear flow. This selectin family of cell adhesion molecules includes P-, E-, and L-selectin. The association and dissociation of two or more selectin-mediated bonds under mechanical load produce the rolling motion of the leukocytes. Although much has been uncovered about the properties of selectins, the complete story of the selectin-mediated adhesion process is yet to be told. The goal of this research is to gain a more quantitative understanding of this receptor-ligand binding through the study of the dissociation kinetics of E-selectin-mediated adhesion using flow chamber techniques. From transient tethering experiments, the dissociation rate of E-selectin-mediated adhesion was found to have a triphasic shear dependence at low shear stresses, where the bond transitioned from a slip to a catch then again to a slip bond. This trend was further supported by observations of the average rolling velocity of cells adhering to E-selectin at various shear stresses. A triphasic force dependence of the rolling velocity was revealed that showed that regions of increasing rolling velocity corresponded to the slip bond regime where tether lifetime decreased with increasing shear stress. Decreasing rolling velocity coincided with the catch bond regime, a regime of prolonged tether lifetime with increasing shear stress. An invertible flow chamber was used in hopes of directly quantifying the dissociation rate of rollingly adherent cells on E-selectin to compare it to the dissociation rate data obtained through transient tethering experiments. However, tether formation, which relates to the association rate, and its role in the stability of rolling seemed to be a key factor in the dissociation rate of rollingly adherent cells over the low shear stress range. Overall, these results provide supporting evidence of a shear threshold for E-selectin as well as data to suggest that tether formation, in coordination with off-rate, determine the rolling velocity behavior of cells on E-selectin substrates.

The present study is aimed to explore dynamical behavior of the fluid- elastic vibration of cylindrical arrays and single cylinder in shear flow by numerical simulations .The effects of the shear parameter, spacing(P/D) ¡Bmass ratio and arrangement of cylinders on fluid-elastic vibration of the cylinders are investigated Continuity and momentum equations are solved alternatively by using a CFD package, Fluent 6.3.26. Dynamic meshing techniques together with the cylinder motion equations are employed in the simulation. Under different flow conditions, flow types and cylinder motion models, lock-in and vortex-induced vibration are studied. According to the research the motion and flow types of a single cylinder in uniform flow are in good agreement with the previous studies in literatures. In shear flow, however, as the shear parameter increases, the fluid vortex-induced vibration of the cylinder is induced, and thus amplitude of the cylinder increases considerably. Further, cylindrical arrays in the shear flow are studied. Cylindrical arrays arrangements (rectangle and rhombus) ¡B the distance between cylinders and regulate shear parameter are the factors to cause fluid-elastic vibration. Compared with the single cylinder motion, cylindrical arrays motion¡¦s critical flow velocity is smaller than the single cylinder motion, which means cylindrical arrays motion are more subject to fluid-elastic vibration.