The inertial migration of two-dimensional soft particles initially distributed uniformly in channel flow is numerically studied by employing an immersed-boundary lattice Boltzmann method coupled with a finite element method. To model a soft particle, a capsule with an elastic membrane separating the liquid inside from the outside is used. Validation tests show excellent agreement with previous numerical results of other researchers. Then, the effects of the number of capsules N_p, the bending stiffness E_b, the initial position $Y_0^{\prime }$ , and the Reynolds number Re on the dynamics of the capsules in channel flow are investigated in detail. Interestingly, we discover a new regime (labeled as regime E) in which a few capsules situated near the channel centerline travel much faster than the rest. Moreover, regime E is more prone to vanishing while the capsules are very soft. The normalized overall lateral position of the capsules σ increases almost linearly with N_p when the capsules stabilize in a single-line particle train (designated as regime A). We also make an effort to explain the formation of the capsule deformation shape in regime A. The steady dynamics of a single capsule depend on whether the initial position is on the channel centerline. However, if the capsule is not released on the channel centerline, the steady capsule dynamics are independent of the initial position. But, it is not true for multiple capsule dynamics. These findings may help understand the inertial migration of capsules in channel flow.

The toughening mechanism of the nacre was widely investigated in recent decades, which presents a great prospect for designing high performance composite materials and engineering structures with bioinspired structures. To further elucidate which structural parameters and which kinds of morphology of the nacre-inspired structure are the best for improving tensile strength without sacrificing too much toughness is extremely significant for composite materials and engineering structures. The “brick-and-mortar” structure is a classical nacre-inspired bionic structure. Three characteristic structural parameters, including the aspect ratio ρ of the brick length and width, the thickness ratio β between the thickness of brick and mortar, and the spacing ratio τ between the width of brick and mortar, were used as variables to study their effect on tensile strength and toughness. It was found that ρ was the most prominent factor in determining the strength and toughness, and τ could improve the strength and toughness almost simultaneously. Racked and wedged morphology of the structural unit were established based on the structural parameters of the regular staggered unit, and were used to compare tensile behavior. It was found that the model with the wedged unit possessed the highest strength and toughness, and could absorb more strain energy during fracture crack growing. The crack propagation path further illustrated that the crack resisting ability of the wedged unit was the best. Our simulation results presented the connection between three characteristic structural parameters with the strength and toughness, and proved that the wedged staggered unit was the best in improving the strength and toughness.

Smaller Kapitza resistance is known to be the most crucial factor responsible for the larger thermal conductivity of nanofluids. But what the underlying mechanism is remains ambiguous. Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations were performed in the present work to examine the effect of ionic addition on the Kapitza resistance of Cu-water nanofluids. The temperature profile indicates that the concentration and type of the additive slightly affects the thickness of the interfacial layer, but the temperature drops significantly. For concentrations of 1 M, the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC, the reciprocal of the Kapitza resistance) of Cu-water with NaCl, NaOH and HCl increases by 48.1%, 29.2% and 22.6% respectively, compared to that without additives. The greatest ITC improvement of 123.7% can be achieved by adding 3 M NaCl. The density profiles of Cu-water nanofluids with various additives suggest that the changes in the interfacial structure are primarily due to the positions of the added cations and anions. It is important to note, however, that the ITC is closely related to the orderliness of the interfacial layer and the matching of the phonon density of states, since the addition of NaCl can increase the PDOS at lower frequencies 1-5 THz, where that for the Cu nanoparticle appears. The findings provide a practical approach to tailor the thermal conductivity of nanofluids by the addition of appropriate ions.

Heat-transfer enhancement in microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) has been a hot topic in the last decade. However, most published works did not focus on the heat sources that are discrete, as in most microelectronic devices, and the enhancement of heat and mass transfer (HMT) due to the Soret and Dufour effects being ignored. Based on a heterogeneous two-phase model that takes into consideration the Soret and Dufour effects, numerical simulations have been performed for various geometries and heat sources. The numerical results demonstrate that the vortices induced by a heat source(s) can enhance the heat transfer efficiency up to 2665 W/m²·K from 2618 W/m²·K for a discrete heat source with a heat flux q = 10⁶ W/m². The Soret effect can affect the heat transfer much more than the Duffour effect. The integrated results for heat transfer due to the Soret and Dufour effects are not sampled superpositions. Discrete heat sources (DHS) arranged in microchannels can enhance heat transfer, especially when the inlet velocity of the forced flow is less than 0.01 m/s. This can provide a beneficial reference for the design of MCHS with DHS.

We numerically investigate the formation and ordering of staggered oblate particle pairs in three-dimensional straight ducts with a square cross section. The lattice Boltzmann method is employed to simulate rigid particle pairs in a Newtonian liquid. The effects of initial axial spacing, Reynolds number, blockage ratio, and particle aspect ratio on the formation process, migration behavior, and interparticle spacing are explored in detail. Current results indicate that the process from initial to final steady state can be divided into two stages. The first stage is rapid migration from initial positions toward equilibrium positions under shear-induced lift force and wall-induced repulsive force. The second stage is the slow self-assembly of stable particle pairs in the axial direction due to the interparticle interaction. Interestingly, initial axial spacing significantly affects the formation process of particle pairs but does not affect the final steady state. It is found that the equilibrium positions of staggered particle pairs move slightly toward the duct walls, and the axial spacing increases with increasing Reynolds number or particle aspect ratio, or decreasing blockage ratio. For a staggered particle pair, the second particle will occupy the eddy center induced by the first focusing particle. Based on the existing data, a correlation is put forward to predict the axial interparticle spacing of staggered oblate particle pairs in duct flows. The present results may give insights into manipulating and comprehending non-spherical particle dynamics in microfluidic applications.