Spatiotemporal periodicity of dislocation dynamics in a two-dimensional microfluidic crystal flowing in a tapered channel.

ABSTRACT: When a many-body system is driven away from equilibrium, order can spontaneously emerge in places where disorder might be expected. Here we report an unexpected order in the flow of a concentrated emulsion in a tapered microfluidic channel. The velocity profiles of individual drops in the emulsion show periodic patterns in both space and time. Such periodic patterns appear surprising from both a fluid and a solid mechanics point of view. In particular, when the emulsion is considered as a soft crystal under extrusion, a disordered scenario might be expected based on the stochastic nature of dislocation dynamics in microscopic crystals. However, an orchestrated sequence of dislocation nucleation and migration is observed to give rise to a highly ordered deformation mode. This discovery sugg

SUBMITTER: Gai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5087054 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature