Shaping active matter from crystalline solids to active turbulence.

Active matter drives its constituent agents to move autonomously by harnessing free energy, leading to diverse emergent states with relevance to both biological processes and inanimate functionalities. Achieving maximum reconfigurability of active materials with minimal control remains a desirable yet challenging goal. Here, we employ large-scale, agent-resolved simulations to demonstrate that modulating the activity of a wet phoretic medium alone can govern its solid-liquid-gas phase transitions and, subsequently, laminar-turbulent transitions in fluid phases, thereby shaping its emergent pattern.

Modelling the direct virus exposure risk associated with respiratory events.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of accurately modelling the pathogen transmission via droplets and aerosols emitted while speaking, coughing and sneezing. In this work, we present an effective model for assessing the direct contagion risk associated with these pathogen-laden droplets. In particular, using the most recent studies on multi-phase flow physics, we develop an effective yet simple framework capable of predicting the infection risk associated with different respiratory activities in different ambient conditions.

Asymmetric invasion in anisotropic porous media.

We report and discuss, by means of pore-scale numerical simulations, the possibility of achieving a directional-dependent two-phase flow behavior during the process of invasion of a viscous fluid into anisotropic porous media with controlled design. By customising the pore-scale morphology and heterogeneities with the adoption of anisotropic triangular pillars distributed with quenched disorder, we observe a substantially different invasion dynamics according to the direction of fluid injection relative to the medium orientation, that is depending if the triangular pillars have their apex oriented (flow aligned) or opposed (flow opposing) to the main flow direction. Three flow regimes can be observed: (i) for low values of the ratio between the macroscopic pressure drop and the characteristic pore-scale capillary threshold, i.

Short-range exposure to airborne virus transmission and current guidelines.

After the Spanish flu pandemic, it was apparent that airborne transmission was crucial to spreading virus contagion, and research responded by producing several fundamental works like the experiments of Duguid [J. P. Duguid, 44, 6 (1946)] and the model of Wells [W.

Universal Scaling Laws for Dense Particle Suspensions in Turbulent Wall-Bounded Flows.

The macroscopic behavior of dense suspensions of neutrally buoyant spheres in turbulent plane channel flow is examined. We show that particles larger than the smallest turbulence scales cause the suspension to deviate from the continuum limit in which its dynamics is well described by an effective suspension viscosity. This deviation is caused by the formation of a particle layer close to the wall with significant slip velocity.

Rheology of Confined Non-Brownian Suspensions.

We study the rheology of confined suspensions of neutrally buoyant rigid monodisperse spheres in plane-Couette flow using direct numerical simulations. We find that if the width of the channel is a (small) integer multiple of the sphere diameter, the spheres self-organize into two-dimensional layers that slide on each other and the effective viscosity of the suspension is significantly reduced. Each two-dimensional layer is found to be structurally liquidlike but its dynamics is frozen in time.

Continuous Growth of Droplet Size Variance due to Condensation in Turbulent Clouds.

We use a stochastic model and direct numerical simulation to study the impact of turbulence on cloud droplet growth by condensation. We show that the variance of the droplet size distribution increases in time as t^{1/2}, with growth rate proportional to the large-to-small turbulent scale separation and to the turbulence integral scales but independent of the mean turbulent dissipation. Direct numerical simulations confirm this result and produce realistically broad droplet size spectra over time intervals of 20 min, comparable with the time of rain formation.

Laminar, turbulent, and inertial shear-thickening regimes in channel flow of neutrally buoyant particle suspensions.

The aim of this Letter is to characterize the flow regimes of suspensions of finite-size rigid particles in a viscous fluid at finite inertia. We explore the system behavior as a function of the particle volume fraction and the Reynolds number (the ratio of flow and particle inertia to viscous forces). Unlike single-phase flows, where a clear distinction exists between the laminar and the turbulent states, three different regimes can be identified in the presence of a particulate phase, with smooth transitions between them.

Shear thickening in non-Brownian suspensions: an excluded volume effect.

Shear thickening appears as an increase of the viscosity of a dense suspension with the shear rate, sometimes sudden and violent at high volume fraction. Its origin for noncolloidal suspension with non-negligible inertial effects is still debated. Here we consider a simple shear flow and demonstrate that fluid inertia causes a strong microstructure anisotropy that results in the formation of a shadow region with no relative flux of particles.

Dislocation loop dynamics in freestanding smectic films: the role of the disjoining pressure and of the finite permeability of the meniscus.

When a dislocation loop nucleates in a freestanding film, it collapses or grows depending on whether its radius r is smaller or larger than a critical radius r(c). In this paper, we analyze the growth dynamics of a dislocation loop in the limit of r>>r(c). Experiments with pure octylcyanobiphenyl show that the dislocation velocity is constant in thick films (more than 100 layers) regardless of their thicknesses, and only depends on the pressure in the meniscus.

When boundaries dominate: dislocation dynamics in smectic films.

We discuss the influence of dissipation at a system boundary (film-meniscus interface) on the dynamics of dislocation loops inside a smectic film. This dissipation induces a strong coupling between dislocations-effectively independent of their separation-leading to their nontrivial dynamics. Because of these dynamics, the effective "dynamical" radius of nucleation can be 10 times larger than the usual static critical radius.

Disjoining pressure and thinning transitions in smectic-A liquid crystal films.

The contact angle between a free standing film of a smectic-A liquid crystal and its meniscus is different from zero. It increases independently of the meniscus size when the film thickness decreases. This angle provides a very precise measurement of the film tension and of the interactions between the two free surfaces.

Edge dislocation in a vertical smectic-A film: line tension versus temperature and film thickness near the nematic phase.

The line tension of a dislocation is measured in a vertical smectic-A film as a function of temperature and film thickness. There are two contributions to the line tension: a bulk contribution that corresponds to the energy of the dislocation in an infinite medium and a surface correction that accounts for interactions with the two free surfaces. Both terms are measured in pure 8CB (octylcyanobiphenyl) as a function of temperature when the bulk nematic-smectic-A transition temperature T(c) is approached.

Coupling between meniscus and smectic-A films: circular and catenoid profiles, induced stress, and dislocation dynamics.

In this paper we discuss the formation and shape of the meniscus between a free-standing film of a smectic-A phase and a wall (in practice the frame that supports the film). The wall may be flat or circular, and the system with or without a reservoir of particles. The formation of the meniscus is always an irreversible thermodynamic process, since it involves the creation of dislocations in the bulk (therefore it involves friction).