| NSF Org: |
CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 13, 2011 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 2, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1054267 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Massimo Ruzzene
CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2011 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2014 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $450,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $209,459.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3227 CHEADLE HALL SANTA BARBARA CA US 93106-0001 (805)893-4188 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3227 CHEADLE HALL SANTA BARBARA CA US 93106-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
APPLIED MATHEMATICS, DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to investigate and understand the physical origin and quantify the dynamics of self-sustained motions, singularity formation, and topological changes of complex fluid interfaces in the context of Marangoni effects driven by surface-active substances (surfactants). Achieving these objectives will require developing new theoretical tools in order to identify the conditions for the occurrence of surfactant-driven instabilities and resulting self-induced dynamical motions, and uncover the role of interfacial singularities in sustaining such motions. The proposed research will lead to the elaboration of new geometrically inspired theoretical methods based on the synergy of dynamical systems, differential geometry, geometric flows, and singularity theories. If successful, this research program will also help one to understand the interplay between singularity and instability phenomena and thus allow one to make progress on Arnold's problem of combining Cartan's and singularity theories.
Self-sustained motions of interfaces are at the basis of all motors in living organisms. Revealing and artificially creating such functions is important both from the fundamental and practical points of view, e.g. in the development of artificial cells. Addressing these questions will advance new fields in science and engineering. In particular, the proposed research program will enhance the theoretical basis for understanding mechanisms of certain types of biological motors at meso- and macroscopic scales and for creating biological functions artificially. Since complex interfaces are ubiquitous, the outcome of this research program should provide ideas for the most efficient designs in numerous applications of surfactants with desired functions ranging from engineering to biology. At the dissemination level, the studied phenomena provide a great opportunity to introduce people to science and technology at varying degrees of complexity and to encourage scientific training. Graduate, undergraduate, and regional high-school students will benefit not only through classroom instruction, but will also receive firsthand research experience.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Self-sustained motions of interfaces are at the basis of all motors in living organisms. Revealing and artificially creating such functions is important both from the fundamental and practical points of view. The research supported by this award was aimed at elucidating the physical origin and quantifying the dynamics of self-sustained motions, singularity formation, and topological changes of fluid interfaces.
With the help of analytical and experimental methods, we made progress on each of these tasks. General interfacial singularities, occurring both in time and space, were studied and resolved in the context of water impact phenomena and chemically-driven interfacial flows. The effects of surface tension variation on the flow topology were analyzed experimentally in the context of coating flows, which revealed bifurcation phenomena responsible for thickening of the coating film. We also developed a new theoretical framework to analyze stability on time-dependent domains, which include interfacial systems exhibiting patterns of singular structures such as the ones formed on liquid rims discovered in our experiments. Overall, during the grant period, we made progress on understanding the underlying physics responsible for the existence of various types of interfacial singularities, their interrelation to instabilities and role in sustaining interfacial motions. Two graduate and a few undergraduate students were trained and partially supported with this award.
Last Modified: 09/27/2014
Modified by: Rouslan Krechetnikov
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