Flow control as a research area encompasses the study of strategies, models, and algorithms for regulating the temporal and spatial evolution of fluid flows to achieve desired performance metrics such as drag reduction, transition delay, mixing enhancement, or noise mitigation. It integrates fluid mechanics, control theory, and numerical simulation, often employing reduced-order modeling, optimal control, robust and adaptive control, and machine learning–based methodologies. Research spans passive, active, and reactive control approaches applied to laminar–turbulent transition, separation control, vortex dynamics, and internal and external aerodynamics, with applications in aerospace, energy systems, microfluidics, and process engineering.
The reliable control of traveling waves emerging from the coupling of oscillations and diffusion in physical, chemical and biological systems is a long-standing challenge within the physics community. Effective approaches ...
In a new study in Physical Review Letters, scientists have demonstrated a method to control artificial microswimmers using electric fields and fluid flow. These microscopic droplets could pave the way for targeted drug delivery ...
Stirring allows for homogenization and efficient gas exchange—this fact has been known for decades. Controlling the stirring rate during the nanocluster synthesis is pivotal in achieving nanostructures with well-defined sizes, ...
Nanophysics
Aug 8, 2024
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90
University of Michigan physicists have devised a way to manipulate active fluids, a type of fluid composed of individual units that can propel themselves independently, by taking advantage of topological defects in the fluids.
General Physics
May 22, 2024
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192
The Venus flower basket sponge, with its delicate glass-like lattice outer skeleton, has long intrigued researchers seeking to explain how this fragile-seeming creature's body can withstand the harsh conditions of the deep ...
General Physics
May 17, 2024
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293
Fluidic force microscopy (FluidFM) combines the sensitivity of atomic force microscopy with microfluidics' capabilities, necessitating precise calibration of its cantilevers for reliable data. Traditional methods, however, ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 15, 2024
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73
A team of researchers from Tohoku University and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) has achieved significant advancement in the field of microfluidics, allowing for precise and efficient manipulation of fluids ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 26, 2024
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98
Sharks in nature swim at high speeds in a deep ocean due to their high drag reduction ability. Water flows around the sharkskin become disrupted by staggered and overlapping microscale structures named denticles. In addition ...
Nanomaterials
Dec 12, 2023
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126
Droplet microfluidics provide a robust platform to synthesize and functionalize micro- and nanoparticles in a range of applications, including drug delivery, screening, lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip applications, across ...
Researchers from the University of Sydney Nano Institute and School of Chemistry have revealed that tiny gas bubbles—nanobubbles just 100 billionths of a meter high—form on surfaces in unexpected situations, providing a new ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 18, 2022
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