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From: Chris Nkinthorn, 2020-01-15

For: Prof. A. Hirsa for Incompressible Flow

Prompt:

write one paragraph (no more than half a page) on any one of the trends discussed in the paper (Leal et al., attached here in case you just added the class) that you found particularly prophetic or otherwise (i.e. prediction that hasn’t stood the test of time).

Response

Being able to predict the behavior component fluid during mixing and the resultant complex fluid’s rheological characteristics remains an open question in need of additional study. Leal's Executive Summary notes:

Development of new experimental techniques are needed to provide much more comprehensive characterization of the rheological behavior of complex fluids, and for characterizing the microstructural state of a non-Newtonian liquid undergoing a flow, since this determines the properties of any product which results from the flow process.

was particularly prophetic for me coming to RPI. The research that I winded up studying was the selective laser melting of Inconel 718 powder deposition parts. Here, the modeling the location of interest is the liquid weld pool. The interaction between the fluid liquid boundary is of greatest interest as the alloy’s resultant bulk properties are dependent on the microstructural crystal growth, as if the fluid microstructure is frozen: characterizing the solid part. Being able to predict the behavior of a single weld pool first requires overcoming the mathematical hurdles of modeling fluid viscosity, characterizing the latent heats of melting and vaporization, and effective heat transfer given a nonuniform porus material around the weld pool. This combination of mathematical set up for the computational research with the hands on crystallography in the MRC metallurgical lab shows that new scientists, even now, are learning about material microstructure, designing new experimental techniques to help formulate a personal research process.

Citations