New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom
David Hassell attended the Summer Exhibition held at the Royal Society in London from the 3rd-6th July 2006. David presented work undertaken as part of the interdisciplinary µPP2 project along with members of the collaboration from other Universities. 4000 people were expected to attend the event, ranging from school children, teachers and members of the general public to fellows of the Royal Society and MP's. Pictured is part of the team with the exhibition at one of the two formal evening events.
From right, David Hassell (Cambridge), Christine Fernyhough (Sheffield) and John Embery (Leeds).
Recent experiments carried out within the Polymer Fluids Group in collaboration with Prof. Steven Ley of the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, investigated the residence time performance of a novel microcapillary flow disc. The disc was prepared from a plastic microcapillary film (MCF), carrying an array of 19 microchannels with a mean hydraulic diameter of 200 µm. The fluidic pathway length of the 19 parallel channels inside the disc was 15 m. Both the disc and the film have been developed within the Polymer Fluids Group.
A slug of blue tracer dye was injected into a constant stream of methanol flowing along the channels of the microcapillary flow disc. The continuous flow of 1 ml/min was provided by an HPLC pump. The fluid entered the disc radially at the circumference and exited at the centre. A series of 9 pictures were taken while the dye pulse travelled through the disc. These are shown in the figure below.
Christian Hornung
Flow of blue dye through a microcapillary flow disc containing an array of 19 microcapillaries (mean capillary diameter: 200 µm, fluidic pathway length: 15 m), 1 ml dye pulse injected into a constant solvent stream at 1 ml/min, pictures taken at time of injection and after 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 minutes.
Tri Tuladhar (left) and David Hassell (right) presenting their work during the "Rheometry and beyond:
advanced experimental methods" and "Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, turbulence and processing" sessions.
From the 27th to the 29th of April 2006, David Hassell, Malcolm Mackley and Tri Tuladhar of the Polymer Fluids group attended the Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC) held in Hersonisos, Crete. This high-profile conference brought together eminent rheologists from Europe, America and Asia. David and Tri gave a talks entitled "Stress Build-up within polyethylene melts in cross-slot flow" and "High shear rheology and filament stretching of inkjet fluids" respectively while Malcolm chaired a morning session on "Viscoplasticity, granular flows and jamming".
Past and present members of the Polymer Fluids Group at the AERC dinner. From left,
David, Tri, Malcolm and past member Rudy Valette, currently at CEMEF in France.
Left - David giving his presentation, Right - Moises at the poster session
Members of the Polymer Fluids Group attended the µPP2 Spring Meeting held at Balliol College, Oxford. Dr David Hassell presented work describing the effect of increasing viscoelasticity on the stress field in Polymer melts using three polyethylenes. Two different flows were created in an MPR using slit inserts: a contraction-expansion flow using a slit geometry and extensional flow using a cross-slot geometry. In both flows and at the same flowrates, an increase in the visoelasticity of the polymer led to increasing stress field asymmetry between the inlet and outlet. At high viscoelasticity the formation of stress fangs and upstream recirculation zones was observed for the contraction-expansion flow and highly localized fringes were observed at the centre line for extensional flow. Comparisons of principle stress difference for both geometries were then made with simulations performed using the multi-mode POM-POM equation where for certain situations good agreement was found.
Prof. Mackley talking to Dr Choon Chai at the poster session
The lively poster session at the meeting
On the 8th and 9th December the Polymer Fluids Group hosted a very successful British Society of Rheology Midwinter Meeting held at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge. The subject of the meeting was "Multiscale Rheology" and length scales from continuum through meso, micro, nano and molecular were covered. The fifty delegates enjoyed excellent presentations and lively debates throughout the meeting.
Optical birefringence image of a highly branched metallocene catalysed polyethylene, taken 0.27s after the start-up of flow. Polymer flows into the cross slot through the vertical channels and leaves via the horizontal ones.
Some recent work using the Cambridge Multi-Pass Rheometer (MPR) has focused on elucidating the effect of branching upon the stress build up and relaxation in extensional flows. Using cross-slot inserts, 12g samples of metallocene catalysed polyethylene's with varying levels of branching were investigated under a range of flow conditions using optical birefringence. The resultant stress patterns were subsequently compared and initial results were presented in oral and poster form at the autumn meeting of the micro-polymer processing research consortium (muPP2).
David giving his cross-slot presentation
David at the poster session
Left - Prof. David Grubb, Right - Prof. Grubb with Prof. Mackley
On the 13th October 2005 Professor David Grubb of Cornell University visited the Polymer Fluids Group. In the morning he was able to meet the individual members of the group and discuss their research. In the afternoon Professor Grubb presented a lively seminer entitled "Natural protein fibers; silk and beta-keratin". He described the failed attempts to produce synthetic spider silk and his more recent and successful research on polymers from feather proteins.
Vancouver by night
From the 16th to the 25th of October, Bart Hallmark of the Polymer Fluids group attended the 77th Society of Rheology meeting in Vancouver, Canada. This superbly organised meeting brought together the top rheologists not only in North America, but worldwide. The meeting was also attended by former P3G member, Dean Barker, and the head of the P3G, Dr Ian Wilson. Bart gave a keynote talk titled 'Micro-flow in Microcapillary Films'.
The 77th meeting marked the work of Prof. Morton Denn as the long-serving editor of the Journal of Rheology and also honoured Profs. John Dealy and Jan Mewis (2005 Bingham medalist) for their distinguished rheological careers. The conference also provided a fitting occasion for Prof. Gareth McKinley to open the new Complex Fluids Lab at the University of British Columbia.
[Left] (R to L) Dean Barker, Ian Wilson and myself. [Right] Long Beach and the Pacific Rim on the west coast of Vancouver Island
Vancouver is brilliantly situated to explore some of the wilder parts of western Canada, so I spent a few days after the conference had finished exploring Vancouver Island and the Pacific Rim national park. Here, temperate rainforest clings to the craggy coastline whilst swells left over from a storm in the Pacific Ocean crash ashore.
The Charles bridge by night
From the 5th to the 8th of September, Bart Hallmark of the Polymer Fluids group attended the European Conference on Materi als in Prague, Czech republic. This high-profile conference brought together the members of the Federation of European Materials Societes, FEMS, together with both industrialists and academics in all areas of materials science. Bart gave a keynote talk titled 'Plastic Microcapillary Film - from Process Innovation to Produc t Application'.
The meeting was an excellent opportunity to highlight the devlopment of microcapillary film science and technology that has been developed within the group to a multidisciplinary audience and also to hear first-hand some of the latest materials developments. There were a number of excellent plenary talks, notably by Prof. Sir David King and Prof. Sir Richard Friend. See here for the full program of speakers
.
Prague to Poland and back by bike - left, the Polish mountains and forests near Swieradow Zdroj and right the
forest trails near Mytiny
In addition to the conference, Prague provides an excellent starting point to go and explore [by bike...] some of the national parks on the Czech / Polish border and to experience some of the more off-the-beaten-track parts of Eastern Europe.
Trond Bustnes, a former PhD student and postdoctoral researcher with the Polymer Fluids Group, has now returned to Norway. Trond writes:
"I now work as a Research Scientist in Gas Technology for the R&D foundation Polytec, which is based in Haugesund, Norway. Polytec conducts public and private funded research within three sectors - Gas Technolgy, Energy and the Environment and Maritime Safety. I am currently working on projects relating to the flow of gas in pipelines, doing contract research and seeking experimental verification methods for flow parameters that are important in the gas transport sector."
"Although I live by the sea with Kate and our little daughter Emily, we spend most of our weekend time playing in the rather spectacular mountains close to Haugesund. There is much unexplored fun to be had here."
Prof Antonio Guerrero in the gardens of Robinson College
On the 3rd August 2005 Professor Antonio Guerrero gave a seminar concerning recent work carried out at the Universities of Seville and Huelva on using biopolymers to make plastics. They have discovered that by combining food protein gluten, or egg albumum, with glycerol and processing the materials in a particular way, they can produce a tough thermoplastic material. Antonio described a range of rheological characteristics of the materials that had been produced and he also discussed some of the interesting properties of this exciting new range of plastics.
Kris with Prof. David Boger
From July 17th to 20th, Kris Coventry of the Polymer Fluids group attended the third Australian-Korean Rheology Conference in Cairns, Australia. The conference is jointly organised by the Australian Society of Rheology and the Korean Society of Rheology and is intended to provide a forum to showcase rheological research in Australia, Korea and the broader Pacific region. Kris presented his work on Cross-Slot extensional flow using the MPR.
The meeting was an excellent opportunity to see the research that is happening on the other side of the world. There were a number of excellent plenary and keynote speakers talking on a large range of rheological topics. See here for the full program of speakers
.
Kris at the Great Barrier Reef and in the Daintree Rainforest.
In addition to the conference, Cairns provides an excellent opportunity to see some of the world's most spectacular ecosystems. It is nestled between the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest - both World Heritage listed sites.
Philippa Clough working in the laboratory
Every year the Polymer Fluids Group takes part in the Nuffield Science Bursary Scheme. The scheme allows sixth form students to gain experience of research in an academic or industrial laboratory for approximatley one month during the summer vacation. The regonal co-ordinator for the Cambridge area is ExSciTe.
This year the student working with the Polymer Fluids Group is Philippa Clough. Philippa is studying the heat exchange properties of micro capillary films.
Tri, Gabriela and Christian standing
in-front of the main entrance.
After the group's recent visit to South France for joint group meeting with CEMEF in Sophia Antipolis and Grenoble for an Annual European Rheology conference 2005, members of the Polymer Fluids Group headed north to attend the 7th World Congress of Chemical Engineering in Glasgow from 10-14 July 2005. This conference is held every four years and is the biggest world forum for innovation and achievement in chemical engineering.
Prof. Malcolm Mackley, Christian Hornung, Gabriela Hernandez and Tri Tuladhar were there to represent the polymer fluids group. Several papers and posters were presented by the group members at the conference.
Christian and Malcolm giving their presentations.
Gabriela giving her presentations and Tri standing by his poster.
At the conference, many participants showed lot of interests in our Microcapillary Film (MCF). During a coffee break after Christian's talk, many people stayed in the room to find out more about MCF from Malcolm and Christian. Prof. Robert Hesketh from Rowan University, New Jersey and a former member of the Polymer Fluids Group joined them and announced that there will be 'free MCF samples for everyone'. Many people queued to get MCF samples handed out by Prof. Malcolm Mackley.
Malcolm and Christian explaining the potential of MCF during the coffee break after Christian's talk.
Malcolm busy handing over MCF samples to interested participants.
Moises Garcia and the PhD jury, Huelva June 2005
Malcolm Mackley visited the Complex Fluids Group at Huelva in Andalucia, Spain where Prof Crispulo Callegos and his Group have secured funding for a Cambridge MPR with Xray facilities. Eland Test Plant hope too deliver the machine in early 2006. Malcolm gave a lecture entitled "The Cambridge Multipass Rheometer" describing recent developments in the MPR.
Malcolm was also took part in the defence jury for Moises Garcia, who had spent time in Cambridge in 2004 using the MPR for processing studies on road bitumens filled with recycled plastics. The presentation was excellent and Moises passed the public examination with top credit.
The Huelva Group are active in the fields of Biopolymers, emulsions, bitumens, lubricating grease and other complex fluids.
Malcolm Mackley June 05
Prof. Mackley, Prof. Crispulo Callegos and Prof. Antonio Diogo, Huelva June 2005
Institut de Mecanique des Fluides et des Solides
Professor Malcolm Mackley visited the Institute de Mecanique des Fluides et des Solides in Strasbourg to hold discussions with two visiting Russian Scientists and also give a seminar “Flexible Chocolate”. Professors Stanislav Patlazhan and Victor Oshyan are leading scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences and they have developed a mechanical model for polymer deformation that involves a change of microstructure as a consequence of deformation. There is a potential link between their modelling and the experimental results observed within the Polymer Fluids Group for flexible chocolate and hopefully, in the future we will be able to make the quantitative connection.
Professors Stanislav Patlazhan and Victor Oshyan
Prof Malcolm Mackley accompanied by his wife Margaret attended the 6th International Symposium of Applied Rheology at Korea University in Seoul on May 19th 2005. The symposium was masterminded by Prof Jae Chun Hyun and eight speakers were invited to talk about their recent work. Prof Antony Beris (Delaware USA) gave an account of his recent simulation studies where he introduced viscoelastic flow to turbulent flow within a channel in order to predict the ÒThoms EffectÓ for drag reduction. Prof Pino Marruci (Naples USA) gave a lecture on molecular modelling for polymer melts where he carefully reviewed the development of ideas following the pioneering work of Doi and Edwards. The BSR President, Malcolm Mackley gave a lecture on the ÒHigh shear rate rheology of microstructured fluidsÓ and gave examples relating to aqueous suspensions in printing ink resins, ice cream and carbon nano tube suspensions. Prof Kiyohito Koyama (Yamagata ,Japan)
talked about the extensional behaviour of polymer melts and Prof Yoshiaki Takahashi ( Kyushu, Japan) spoke about coalescence of polymer blends. There were also excellent Korean presentations that covered topics such as nano composites, blood flow and macro economics! The Korean economy as a whole is vibrant, as too is the Applied Rheology community. Companies such as LG and Samsung are investing heavily in both Universities and Technology and one can only hope that European based International Companies can match this challenge.
Malcolm Mackley 07.05.05
Most of the group at Cemef
On Tuesday April 19 2005 the Polymer Fluids group (with guests Milan Patel and Dean Barker from the Powder and Paste Processing Group) held a joint one-day meeting with Cemef. The meeting was held at their research centre located in Sophia Antipolis, France, where Professor Mackley has been on sabbatical. Oral presentations were given by members of both groups together with a posters session during the lunch interval. The meeting was very successful and allowed the members of the groups to discuss their research and exchange ideas.
Kris, Rudy and Yu Wen giving their presentations
The presentations given at the meeting included:
The lunchtime poster session
The posters presented at the meeting by members of the Polymer Fluids Group included:
The group on the beach at Antebes
Maintained by:
Simon Butler
Email:sab1000@cam.ac.uk
Last updated: September 2006