Flows involving immiscible liquid/gas or liquid/liquid interfaces play a crucial role in many diverse applications ranging from medical sprays and fuel injection systems to underwater petroleum spills. In fuel injection systems, the dynamics of the liquid/gas interface lead to the formation of a fuel spray directly impacting engine performance, efficiency, and pollutant production. In underwater petroleum spills, the dynamics of the immiscible interface determines whether the oil will rise to the ocean surface to form a slick, or break up into small scale drops to form suspended plumes beneath the surface. Although flows with immiscible interfaces have a prominent role in these and many other applications, they are not well understood and no comprehensive predictive model for the complex dynamics of immiscible interfaces exists.
The objective of this proposal is to develop a numerical laboratory for flows with immiscible interfaces that will enable predictive simulations even in operating and environmental conditions, that our outside experimentally observable regimes. The approach to achieve this goal is based on developing and applying novel numerical techniques to solve governing equations derived from first principle. New code and solution verification techniques will ensure consistency of the solution technique and the obtained numerical results.
The intellectual merit of this proposal is that it will provide for a novel, comprehensive tool of discovery for flows involving immiscible interfaces undergoing complex transitions, like atomization, inside complex geometries. New insights into the interplay of interface dynamics with local flow fields and complex geometries will result in a new understanding of such flows in many technical application areas even under conditions that cannot be observed experimentally. In the case of fuel atomizers, for example, the predictive nature of the laboratory requiring no tuning can enable a transformative shift in design philosophy away from traditional incremental improvements that rely on existing experimental data, to radically new design concepts, where no experimental data exists. Such an expansion of design space can lead to improved fuel atomizers including targeted new concepts for biofuels. It can also enable analysis of containment strategies for underwater petroleum spills before they are deployed and thus might be used to help pre-certify containment strategies for varying spill scenarios, thereby shortening response times by cutting down on current trial and error approaches.
The broader impacts of this proposal include an elementary school outreach program "Fun with Flows" that targets sixth graders in a Tier I elementary school in Arizona. The program consists of collaboratively developed teaching and assessment modules highlighting flow engineering applications. It integrates and builds upon the existing AIMS curriculum and is designed to prepare students to perform well on standardized examinations, thus ensuring consistency with school teacher priorities and longevity of the program. Assessment data from Fun with Flows" will be analyzed using engineering education tools, published, and form the basis of the funded graduate student's Engineering Education Concentration requirement. The proposed research will involve underrepresented minorities and female undergraduate students and incorporate the results in cross- listed undergraduate/graduate level courses.
