Passive Viscous Flow Selection via Fluid-Induced Buckling

Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Aug 23;133(8):084001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.084001.

Abstract

We study the buckling of a clamped beam immersed in a creeping flow within a rectangular channel. Via a combination of precision experiments, simulations, and theoretical modeling, we show how the instability depends on a pressure feedback mechanism and rationalize it in terms of dimensionless parameters. As the beam can bend until touching the wall above a critical flow rate, we finally demonstrate how the system can be used as a tunable passive flow selector, effectively redirecting the flow within a designed hydraulic circuit.