Three-dimensional simulations of the ordering of elastic capsule suspensions within planar Poiseuille flow channels are reported. The simulations utilize the immersed boundary method coupled with the lattice Boltzmann method to capture the complex flow-induced capsule deformations and hydrodynamic interactions within the suspensions. A parametric study is presented whereby the confinement ratio and the particle deformability are varied independently within a two-dimensional range relevant to this ordering phenomenon. The initial distribution of capsules is random, and the simulations evolve the system from a disordered state to an ordered one, while an order parameter that quantifies the fraction of capsules belonging to one-dimensional train assemblies is computed throughout time. A monotonic increase in ordering is observed with increasing deformability. However, an optimal confinement ratio is identified corresponding to a peak in the order parameter. This peak is attributed to the competition between increasing long-range capsule attractions and decreasing in-plane capsule density (with fixed volume fraction) as the confinement ratio increases. Simulations are also performed to understand how dispersity in capsule size and deformability impact the degree of ordering. It is shown that ordering is quite sensitive to dispersity in capsule size, and much less sensitive to dispersity in deformability. Overall, the results provide important insights for the design of microfluidic devices.

A computational study was performed of the transport of both non-adhesive and adhesive particles in a porous bed with a body-centred cubic (BCC) structure. Pore-scale simulation of the flow within the porous bed was achieved through combining the immersed boundary method and the lattice Boltzmann method. Particle transport is computed using an adhesive discrete-element method based on a multi-time-scale soft-sphere model. The fluid flow results are validated by comparison with experimental data for dimensionless permeability of flow in a porous bed of spheres. For computations with non-adhesive particles, the particles are observed to drift to the centre of ‘channels’ in the BCC array, within which most of the fluid flow occurs. The mechanism of this inward drift was found to be related to the phenomenon of oscillatory clustering, which is an inertial drift mechanism observed for particles in a corrugated channel. A measure for particle drift into these channels was developed, and the time rate of change of this measure was found to compare closely with an approximate theoretical prediction based on oscillatory clustering theory. The drift measure was observed to be limited at long time by hold-up of outlier particles caught in long-duration collisions with the fixed bed particles in regions of low fluid velocity magnitude. Simulations with adhesive particles exhibited marked increase in collision duration, as well as inhibition of the tendency to drift toward the flow channels due to adhesive hold-up.

This work studies two-dimensional fixed-flux Rayleigh–Bénard convection with periodic boundary conditions in both horizontal and vertical directions and analyses its dynamics using numerical continuation, secondary instability analysis and direct numerical simulation. The fixed-flux constraint leads to time-independent elevator modes with a well-defined amplitude. Secondary instability of these modes leads to tilted elevator modes accompanied by horizontal shear flow. For $Pr=1$, where $Pr$ is the Prandtl number, a subsequent subcritical Hopf bifurcation leads to hysteresis behaviour between this state and a time-dependent direction-reversing state, followed by a global bifurcation leading to modulated travelling waves without flow reversal. Single-mode equations reproduce this moderate Rayleigh number behaviour well. At high Rayleigh numbers, chaotic behaviour dominated by modulated travelling waves appears. These transitions are characteristic of high wavenumber elevator modes since the vertical wavenumber of the secondary instability is linearly proportional to the horizontal wavenumber of the elevator mode. At a low $Pr$, relaxation oscillations between the conduction state and the elevator mode appear, followed by quasi-periodic and chaotic behaviour as the Rayleigh number increases. In the high $Pr$ regime, the large-scale shear weakens, and the flow shows bursting behaviour that can lead to significantly increased heat transport or even intermittent stable stratification.

A computational analysis is performed to study the three-dimensional response of rectangular shear layers to plasma actuator-based control, in the context of sound mitigation of supersonic non-axisymmetric jets. A Mach $1.5$ rectangular jet with an aspect ratio $2:1$ is controlled using experimentally informed actuation patterns, referred to as M0, M1, M2, M3, M${\rm \pi}$ and M+/$-$1. While the first five progressively increase the phase difference between successive actuators thus enhancing three-dimensionality of the shear layer structures, the latter corresponds to the flapping mode of the jet. A preliminary linear analysis identifies that the frequency, $St\sim 1$, has a relatively high overall amplification within the baseline shear layer, and is hence utilized for control in the subsequent nonlinear simulations. Each actuation reveals unique near-field vortical and acoustic responses that have a profound impact on far-field noise levels. The M0 actuation induces circumferentially interconnected strong streamwise vortices, while M1 actuation enhances the circumferential variability in the coherent structures. The M2 actuation encompasses both these effects, and along with a very low tonal impact of forcing, produces the most desirable far-field noise mitigation (${\sim }2.6\,{\rm dB}$), contributed by a broadband reduction around the column-mode peak of the baseline jet. Beyond M2 actuation, effectiveness of control saturates, particularly along the direction of peak noise radiation. Through a near-field analysis of the acoustic component, the efficacy of M2 actuation is attributed to the attenuation of the radiative efficiency of the jet, including reduced energy in the supersonic phase speeds, and redistribution of energy into the higher helical modes. Further, it curtails the nonlinear difference interactions in the plume that energize column-mode frequencies, which often appear as strong intermittent sound-producing events. While the shear layer turbulent kinetic energy decreases with actuation, the controlled jets show minimal variations in mean flow properties, particularly under M2 actuation, suggesting this to be a promising small-perturbation-based noise control strategy.

Based on the multiple-scale expansion technique, a new set of extended nonlinear Schrödinger (ENLS) equations up to the third order is derived to account for the additional high-order bottom and dispersion effects as well as the nonlinear wave interaction on wave transformation over periodic sandbars of sinusoidal geometry. By employing the small-amplitude wave assumption, a closed-form analytical solution for Bragg scattering is obtained from the linearised ENLS equations, which demonstrates that a downshift of wave frequency of the maximum reflection is mainly due to the inclusion of the high-order bottom effect. The factors that affect the downshift of the resonant frequency are identified and a theoretical expression in parabolic form is derived to quantify the downshift magnitude. The fully ENLS equations are further analysed to reveal the additional wave nonlinear effects on Bragg scattering characteristics. Under the condition of infinitesimal sandbar amplitude, the ENLS equations render a theoretical expression of the critical value of $kh$ when the nonlinear wave self-modulation effect and the nonlinear wave cross-modulation effect are equal, whereas the former effect is responsible for wavenumber upshifting and the latter downshifting. When $kh$ is larger than the critical value, the increase of wave nonlinearity will enhance the downshift magnitude of the Bragg resonance, and vice versa. For finite amplitude of the bottom sandbar, the ENLS equations are solved numerically to examine the influence of both wave nonlinearity and sandbar amplitude on the characteristics of Bragg resonance. The results reveal that as the increase of sandbar amplitude, the critical $kh$ increases monotonically.