Description du sujet de thèse

From the hairs on our skin to the microscopic cilia in our respiratory tract, aggregates of slender, deformable structures in contact with fluids are ubiquitous in nature. When these elastic fibres are tightly packed together, they form a porous medium that can act as a particle filter. However, this porous medium has deformable pores because the elastic fibres can bend in response to flow. These deformations modify the size and geometry of the pores, as well as the overall dimensions of the porous medium, and therefore have an impact on filtration. The aim of the thesis is to understand how these fibrous media deform under fluid forces and how this impacts their filtration properties.

The PhD student will construct model experiments of channels with elastic obstacles and study their deformation under flow as a function of geometric parameters and material properties. Initially without particles, then with particles to be filtered. He/she will continue with the study of collective effects to move on to the filtration properties of fibre-lined channels.

The candidate should have a solid background in fluid mechanics and/or soft matter. Ideally, he/she will have experience in rapid prototyping, image analysis and programming with Matlab and/or Python.

Contexte de travail

LadHyX (Laboratoire d'Hydrodynamique) is a joint CNRS - Ecole Polytechnique research unit (UMR 7646) located in Palaiseau, near Paris, France. It conducts theoretical, numerical and experimental research in fundamental and applied fluid dynamics. The PhD student will benefit from a doctoral contract funded by the ANR and will be enrolled in the IP Paris Doctoral School.

Contraintes et risques

No specific risks or constraints