F.J. Galindo-Rosales, Transport Phenomena Research Center, CEFT | December, 5 – 17h00 | FEUP Sala B020

Smart fluids are complex fluids that exhibit a change in their rheological properties upon the application of an external stimulus, which can be light, heat, electric field or magnetic field. Among them, electrorheological fluids and magnetorheological fluids are at the forefront of advance applications, such as soft robotics, fluidic valves, clutches, cleaning oil spills, etc. The success of these applications will rely fundamentally on the precise knowledge of the rheological properties of the smart fluids. However, commercially available rheometers are limited to provide the rheological behavior of these fluids under shear flow, which means information about just one-fourth of the rheological map of behaviors. We have developed some devices in the Transport Phenomena Research Center (CEFT), under the framework of the RheoOptimized2Dinks and Ferro-Clean projects, that allow providing complementary rheological information about their behavior under extensional flow. Having both characterizations, i.e. under shear and extensional flows, is the key for selecting the right constitutive equation and, therefore, being able to simulate the behavior of these fluids under real conditions and optimize the
performance of the final product.

This seminar will describe the basic principles of rheology and complex fluids, focusing in particular on relevant properties of smart fluids and showing some of the sci-fi applications that are coming out in the last years. We will see the different techniques available in the market for performing rheological characterization of smart fluids and we will highlight the empty gaps. Finally, we will talk about the solutions developed at CEFT and some of the latest results will be shown.

F.J. Galindo-Rosales is a researcher with more than 10 years of research experience in rheology and
microfluidics. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Fluid Mechanics by the University of Málaga (Spain) in 2008 and worked as a Post-Doctoral researcher in the Soft Matter, Rheology and Technology group of the KU Leuven (Belgium, 2008-10) before arriving at CEFT/FEUP back in 2010. Since then, he has secured more than 830 k€ through 5 research projects with FCT and international companies, such as Ultimaker B.V.; published 30 articles (Scopus h-index 15), 3 edited books and 5 patents. He is the organizer of the Summer School on Complex Fluids in Microfluidics since 2017 and co-founder of Rheinforce Optimal Performance Lda, an UPorto Spin-Off company (www.rheinforce.com).

[Host: Joaquim L Faria, Associate Laboratory, LSRE-LCM]
Image credits: Sara S Pereira