TY - JOUR
T1 - Phase synchronization of fluid-fluid interfaces as hydrodynamically coupled oscillators
AU - Um, Eujin
AU - Kim, Minjun
AU - Kim, Hyoungsoo
AU - Kang, Joo H.
AU - Stone, Howard A.
AU - Jeong, Joonwoo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - Hydrodynamic interactions play a role in synchronized motions of coupled oscillators in fluids, and understanding the mechanism will facilitate development of applications in fluid mechanics. For example, synchronization phenomenon in two-phase flow will benefit the design of future microfluidic devices, allowing spatiotemporal control of microdroplet generation without additional integration of control elements. In this work, utilizing a characteristic oscillation of adjacent interfaces between two immiscible fluids in a microfluidic platform, we discover that the system can act as a coupled oscillator, notably showing spontaneous in-phase synchronization of droplet breakup. With this observation of in-phase synchronization, the coupled droplet generator exhibits a complete set of modes of coupled oscillators, including out-of-phase synchronization and nonsynchronous modes. We present a theoretical model to elucidate how a negative feedback mechanism, tied to the distance between the interfaces, induces the in-phase synchronization. We also identify the criterion for the transition from in-phase to out-of-phase oscillations.
AB - Hydrodynamic interactions play a role in synchronized motions of coupled oscillators in fluids, and understanding the mechanism will facilitate development of applications in fluid mechanics. For example, synchronization phenomenon in two-phase flow will benefit the design of future microfluidic devices, allowing spatiotemporal control of microdroplet generation without additional integration of control elements. In this work, utilizing a characteristic oscillation of adjacent interfaces between two immiscible fluids in a microfluidic platform, we discover that the system can act as a coupled oscillator, notably showing spontaneous in-phase synchronization of droplet breakup. With this observation of in-phase synchronization, the coupled droplet generator exhibits a complete set of modes of coupled oscillators, including out-of-phase synchronization and nonsynchronous modes. We present a theoretical model to elucidate how a negative feedback mechanism, tied to the distance between the interfaces, induces the in-phase synchronization. We also identify the criterion for the transition from in-phase to out-of-phase oscillations.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-18930-7
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-18930-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 33060604
AN - SCOPUS:85092586839
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 5221
ER -