Project Description

The proposed direction for a Gilbreth Fellow under the supervision of Profs. Christov and Narsimhan lies at the intersection of fluid mechanics and soft matter physics. We are broadly interested in problems involving particle motion and transport (from the single-particle scale to the continuum scale of a suspension), the effect of carrier (such as a polymeric fluid), and the deformation of confining boundaries (such as elastic walls, or interfaces endowed with surface tension). The Gilbreth Fellow and mentors will leverage theoretical approaches (including classical methods in Stokes flows, lubrication theory, asymptotic and perturbation methods) with advanced computational (including Brownian dynamics, boundary element methods, two-fluid modeling, and physics-informed machine learning).

Applications and project proposals involving, but not limited to, particle motion in viscoelastic fluids, the effect of compliant boundaries/interfaces on such motions, particle suspensions in viscoelastic fluids, the use of channel deformation to sieve or sort particles in a microfluidic device, and the flow and deformation of soft materials are welcome. We seek to push the state of the art in any of these directions, leveraging the Gilbreth Fellowship support and associated funded projects to pursue groundbreaking fundamental research.

Start Date

Flexible, May 2025 or after

Postdoc Qualifications

The postdoctoral researcher should have a degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or equivalent. The research requires a strong background at the intersection of computational and theoretical fluid mechanics and soft matter physics. This background can be demonstrated by a track record of publications in the top disciplinary journals (such as the Physical Review journals, the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, etc.). 

Co-advisors

Ivan C. Christov, Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, https://engineering.purdue.edu/TMNT-Lab/

Vivek Narsimhan, Michael and Carolyn Ott Assistant Professor, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, https://viveknarsimhan.wixsite.com/website 

Bibliography