Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS
Volume 2, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevFluids.2.043102
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- MIT Solomon Buchsbaum Fund Award
- Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship
- Edmund F. Kelly Research Award
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We investigate flow pattern formation and viscosity reduction mechanisms in active fluids by studying a generalized Navier-Stokes model that captures the experimentally observed bulk vortex dynamics in microbial suspensions. We present exact analytical solutions including stress-free vortex lattices and introduce a computational framework that allows the efficient treatment of higher-order shear boundary conditions. Large-scale parameter scans identify the conditions for spontaneous flow symmetry breaking, geometry-dependent viscosity reduction, and negative-viscosity states amenable to energy harvesting in confined suspensions. The theory uses only generic assumptions about the symmetries and long-wavelength structure of active stress tensors, suggesting that inviscid phases may be achievable in a broad class of nonequilibrium fluids by tuning confinement geometry and pattern scale selection.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available