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Summer Research Opportunities in
Jerry Gollub's Research Group, Summer 2008
We expect to hire two or three undergraduates for research this summer.
Our work is concerned generally with "Particle Dynamics in Complex Fluid Flows." We use small-scale, well-controlled laboratory experiments to obtain a deeper understanding of this topic.
1. We will continue the work of Peter O'Malley on particles in flows at modest Reynolds number, to understand how their behavior changes as their inertia increases. By measuring the spatial distribution of large particles, we will investigate clustering effects and the impact of local flow topology on inertial particles. An important consequence of this work will be a better understanding of the conditions that must be met for transported particles to serve as passive flow tracers, as is assumed for nearly every modern flow measurement technique. This summer we would like to extend this work to the case of nonspherical, asymmetric particles, where the dynamics may be very different from the case of spherical particles.
2. We will also investigate the dynamics of a jammed floating monolayer of particles to shear stresses, gaining insight into the structure and flow of disordered materials. How does such a system begin to flow, and how does it move as it is pushed farther into the flowing regime? This experiment has been started by Nick Ouellette, and will be continued in collaboration with him.
Other student projects are also possible.
We anticipate a Lab Tour on Tuesday, March 4, at 3 pm.