This one-year award for an international dissertation enhancement project involves Jared Tatum, a graduate student of Graham Harrison of Clemson University. The objective is to send Mr. Tatum to Cranfield University for a three-month period to learn the fundamentals of three-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) and apply this new technique to research in non-Newtonian fluid mechanics. His doctoral thesis is part of a larger US-UK cooperative research project between Dr. Harrison and Dr. N. J. Lawson at Cranfield University. They are using optical techniques to experimentally investigate particle sedimentation and migration through three different fluids in the presence of a plane, vertical wall. Three different test fluids are being employed: a Newtonian reference fluid (the subject of Mr. Tatum's research), a shear-thinning polymer solution, and a constant (shear) viscosity elastic liquid. The goal is to identify the characteristics of the flow field that lead to and result from unusual motions of particles.
This proposed cooperative research program will advance the training and development of an US graduate student. He will learn novel optical techniques and have access to advanced equipment at Cranfield University.
