The PhD defence and trial lecture will be digital and streamed directly using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the audience to ask questions ex auditorio at the end of the defence. If you would like to ask a question, click 'Raise hand' and wait to be unmuted.
-
Join the disputation
The webinar opens for participation just before the disputation starts, participants who join early will be put in a waiting room.-
Submit the request to get access to the thesis (available from 3rd September, 13:15, until 17th September 13:15)
Trial lecture
"Fluid structure interactions and the physics of spinning maple seeds"
Main research findings
Thin viscous films are ubiquitous in Nature and biology and they are indispensable in industrial applications through lubrication and coating. In order to utilize the potential of thin viscous films on the micro and nano scale, detailed understanding and models of the mechanisms that govern the flow dynamics is necessary.
In the presented thesis, I investigate how the flow dynamics are influenced by small scale effects using mathematical and numerical modelling. More specifically, small scale flow phenomena driven by elastic bending, thermal fluctuations and surface tensions forces are studied. A main objective was to identify time and length scales on which characteristic thin film flow features such as perturbation levelling and film rupture/de-wetting occur. This has great practical implications as it can be used to improve a films stability and provide estimates of the system's total surface energy. Moreover, thermal fluctuations are demonstrated to be able to influence these time scales to a great extent.
Furthermore, I investigate how wetting droplets on conical structures can self-propell due to a mismatch in the droplets front and trailing contact angle. The latter has significant potential to create passively coated structures and to enhance water transport in fog nets.