Research

Deformable particles in turbulence

Currently I am working on flexible fibers in turbulent flows. The deformations of a fiber are negligible when the fiber length is smaller than a critical length. This characteristic scale depends on the mechanical properties of the fiber, the fluid properties (density and viscosity) and the power injected in the turbulence. My studies are mainly focused on two questions: how are deformed the fibers and how do these deformations influence the transport of a fiber in turbulence.

macroscopic polymer

I am also interested in the collective dynamics of fibers in turbulent and laminar flow. This investigation was initiated by the observation of aegagropila on mediterranean beaches. Of course, this process occurs in many industrial application like in the paper industry and in everyday life observations (dust and hair aggregates, ...).

Turbulence near the critical point of a fluid

At the critical point several physical properties of the fluid diverge as the compressibility, the viscosity, the relaxation time scale... Some divergences may be very useful for fluid mechanics as it allows to reach new regime. For example, in a small rotor-stator setup, we have generated turbulent flow with Reynolds number around 107 and Mach number around 0.5. These characteristics are very close to the Reynolds and Mach number reach in the aerospace industry.
From a fundamental point of view, the interaction between the divergence of the physical properties and the flow rise some new question. For example what is the modification of the turbulence by the divergence of the density fluctuation which can be of the same order of the Kolmogorov length? What is the modification of the flow dynamics due to the relaxation time scale divergence close to the critical point?

Magnetohydrodynamics

My work wass focused on the dynamo instability and the transition from hydrodynamics turbulence to magnetohydrodynamics turbulence.

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