Seeking simplicity for the understanding of multiphase flows

Fluid mechanics is a discipline with rich phenomena, with motions occurring over an enormous range of length scales, and spanning a wide range of laminar and turbulent flows, instabilities, and applications in industry, nature, biology, and medicine. The subfield of complex fluids typically refers to those flows where the complexity is introduced, for example, by the presence of suspended particles, multiple phases, soft boundaries, and electrokinetic effects; several distinct multiphase flows of Newtonian fluids make up the examples in this article. Interfaces play a significant role and modify the flow with feedback that further changes the shapes of the interfaces. I will provide examples of our work highlighting (i) new features of classical instabilities triggered by changes in geometry, (ii) multiphase flows relevant to the design of liquid-infused substrates exhibiting effective slip while retaining the trapped liquid, and (iii) unexpected dynamics in flow at a T-junction. The interplay of experiments and mathematical models and/or simulations is critical to the new understanding developed.