Current Research

  • Atomization of Non-Newtonian liquids:                                              Atomization is a complex process in which different hydrodynamic instabilities help to transfer the bulk liquid into fine small droplets. Air-assisted atomization is a preferred method for spraying in most industrial applications due to finer particle sizes after spray and lower flow rate requirements. Recent works on atomization of Newtonian liquids have shed light on different aspects of this problem but still there are many unanswered questions about spray of Non-Newtonian liquids.    
  • Extensional rheometry of dilute polymer solutions:           Extensional/elongational properties of polymer solutions can be very important in many industrial applications. For very dilute solutions the usual methods such as CaBER(Capillary Break-up Extensional Rheometry) fail to succeed in reporting reliable data. One alternate way to study the extensional properties of dilute solutions is through the study of their jet break-up behavior.

Previous Research

  • Newtonian and Elastic jet impact on a moving substrate: My previous research in University of British Columbia was on the interaction of a liquid jet with a moving surface. One of the main applications of jet/drop impact on moving surfaces can be found in coating of friction modifiers which are used in the railroad industry. Kelsan Technologies Corporation was the main industry funding my project in Vancouver, Canada. A copy of my master thesis covering most of results can be found here. 

Other Research Interests

  • I also enjoy doing research in other related topics such as hydrodynamic instabilities, high speed imaging of fluid phenomena, and wind tunnel testings.

Capillary Break-up Extensional Rheometry
(Beads-on-a-String structure)
copyright:MIT 2012-B.K.