Boundaries control active channel flows
Boundary conditions dictate how fluids, including liquid crystals, flow when pumped through a channel. Can boundary conditions also be used to control internally driven active fluids that generate flows spontaneously? By using numerical simulations and stability analysis we explore how parallel surf...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2022.948415/full |
| _version_ | 1811311992578768896 |
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| author | Paarth Gulati Suraj Shankar M. Cristina Marchetti |
| author_facet | Paarth Gulati Suraj Shankar M. Cristina Marchetti |
| author_sort | Paarth Gulati |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Boundary conditions dictate how fluids, including liquid crystals, flow when pumped through a channel. Can boundary conditions also be used to control internally driven active fluids that generate flows spontaneously? By using numerical simulations and stability analysis we explore how parallel surface anchoring of active agents at the boundaries and substrate drag can be used to rectify coherent flow of an active polar fluid in a 2D channel. Upon increasing activity, a succession of dynamical states is obtained, from laminar flow to vortex arrays to eventual turbulence, that are controlled by the interplay between the hydrodynamic screening length and the extrapolation length quantifying the anchoring strength of the orientational order parameter. We highlight the key role of symmetry in both flow and order and show that coherent laminar flow with net throughput is only possible for weak anchoring and intermediate activity. Our work demonstrates the possibility of controlling the nature and properties of active flows in a channel simply by patterning the confining boundaries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T10:28:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9b9d8b9487a449829f535a890d9363b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-424X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T10:28:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-9b9d8b9487a449829f535a890d9363b02022-12-22T02:50:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physics2296-424X2022-07-011010.3389/fphy.2022.948415948415Boundaries control active channel flowsPaarth Gulati0Suraj Shankar1M. Cristina Marchetti2Physics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesPhysics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United StatesPhysics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesBoundary conditions dictate how fluids, including liquid crystals, flow when pumped through a channel. Can boundary conditions also be used to control internally driven active fluids that generate flows spontaneously? By using numerical simulations and stability analysis we explore how parallel surface anchoring of active agents at the boundaries and substrate drag can be used to rectify coherent flow of an active polar fluid in a 2D channel. Upon increasing activity, a succession of dynamical states is obtained, from laminar flow to vortex arrays to eventual turbulence, that are controlled by the interplay between the hydrodynamic screening length and the extrapolation length quantifying the anchoring strength of the orientational order parameter. We highlight the key role of symmetry in both flow and order and show that coherent laminar flow with net throughput is only possible for weak anchoring and intermediate activity. Our work demonstrates the possibility of controlling the nature and properties of active flows in a channel simply by patterning the confining boundaries.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2022.948415/fullactive matterpolar fluidconfined channelsboundary anchoringcoherent flow |
| spellingShingle | Paarth Gulati Suraj Shankar M. Cristina Marchetti Boundaries control active channel flows Frontiers in Physics active matter polar fluid confined channels boundary anchoring coherent flow |
| title | Boundaries control active channel flows |
| title_full | Boundaries control active channel flows |
| title_fullStr | Boundaries control active channel flows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Boundaries control active channel flows |
| title_short | Boundaries control active channel flows |
| title_sort | boundaries control active channel flows |
| topic | active matter polar fluid confined channels boundary anchoring coherent flow |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2022.948415/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paarthgulati boundariescontrolactivechannelflows AT surajshankar boundariescontrolactivechannelflows AT mcristinamarchetti boundariescontrolactivechannelflows |