skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Searching for structural predictors of plasticity in dense active packings
In amorphous solids subject to shear or thermal excitation, so-called structural indicators have been developed that predict locations of future plasticity or particle rearrangements. An open question is whether similar tools can be used in dense active materials, but a challenge is that under most circumstances, active systems do not possess well-defined solid reference configurations. We develop a computational model for a dense active crowd attracted to a point of interest, which does permit a mechanically stable reference state in the limit of infinitely persistent motion. Previous work on a similar system suggested that the collective motion of crowds could be predicted by inverting a matrix of time-averaged two-particle correlation functions. Seeking a first-principles understanding of this result, we demonstrate that this active matter system maps directly onto a granular packing in the presence of an external potential, and extend an existing structural indicator based on linear response to predict plasticity in the presence of noisy dynamics. We find that the strong pressure gradient necessitated by the directed activity, as well as a self-generated free boundary, strongly impact the linear response of the system. In low-pressure regions the linear-response-based indicator is predictive, but it does not work well in the high-pressure interior of our active packings. Our findings motivate and inform future work that could better formulate structure-dynamics predictions in systems with strong pressure gradients.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1951921
PAR ID:
10325764
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Soft Matter
Volume:
18
Issue:
7
ISSN:
1744-683X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1540 to 1553
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, Machine Learning: Science and Technology)
    Abstract Nonlinear frequency response analysis is a widely used method for determining system dynamics in the presence of nonlinearities. In dusty plasmas, the plasma–grain interaction (e.g. grain charging fluctuations) can be characterized by a single-particle non-linear response analysis, while grain–grain non-linear interactions can be determined by a multi-particle non-linear response analysis. Here a machine learning-based method to determine the equation of motion in the non-linear response analysis for dust particles in plasmas is presented. Searching the parameter space in a Bayesian manner allows an efficient optimization of the parameters needed to match simulated non-linear response curves to experimentally measured non-linear response curves. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; (, bioRxiv)
    Abstract Functional and structural elements of synaptic plasticity are tightly coupled, as has been extensively shown for dendritic spines. Here, we interrogated structural features of presynaptic terminals in 3DEM reconstructions from CA1 hippocampal axons that had undergone control stimulation or theta-burst stimulation (TBS) to produce long-term potentiation (LTP). We reveal that after LTP induction, the synaptic vesicle (SV) cluster is less dense, and SVs are more dispersed. The distances between neighboring SVs are greater in less dense terminals and have more SV-associated volume. We characterized the changes to the SV cluster by measuring distances between neighboring SVs, distances to the active zone, and the dispersion of the SV cluster. Furthermore, we compared the distribution of SVs with randomized ones and provided evidence that SVs gained mobility after LTP induction. With a computational model, we can predict the increment of the diffusion coefficient of the SVs in the cluster. Moreover, using a machine learning approach, we identify presynaptic terminals that were potentiated after LTP induction. Lastly, we show that the local SV density is a volume-independent property under strong regulation. Altogether, these results provide evidence that the SV cluster is undergoing a transition during LTP. 
    more » « less
  3. ; (, Biology Letters)
    null (Ed.)
    Flies and other insects use incoherent motion (parallax) to the front and sides to measure distances and identify obstacles during translation. Although additional depth information could be drawn from below, there is no experimental proof that they use it. The finding that blowflies encode motion disparities in their ventral visual fields suggests this may be an important region for depth information. We used a virtual flight arena to measure fruit fly responses to optic flow. The stimuli appeared below ( n = 51) or above the fly ( n = 44), at different speeds, with or without parallax cues. Dorsal parallax does not affect responses, and similar motion disparities in rotation have no effect anywhere in the visual field. But responses to strong ventral sideslip (206° s −1 ) change drastically depending on the presence or absence of parallax. Ventral parallax could help resolve ambiguities in cluttered motion fields, and enhance corrective responses to nearby objects. 
    more » « less
  4. (, AIAA Aviation Conference)
    null (Ed.)
    Flight vehicles that operate in the supersonic regime can be subject to adverse fluid-structure interactions due to their lightweight design. The presence of geometric obstructions such as control surfaces or fins can induce compression shocks that can interact with the boundary layer, leading to flow separation. The interaction of flow, compression shock and structural dynamics is very difficult to model and currently only poorly understood. This work investigates experimentally the interaction between a compliant panel in a Mach 2 flow under a ramp-induced shock-wave/boundary layer interaction (SWBLI). Brass panels of length 4.8" and width 2.5" and different thicknesses (h=0.020", 0.016", 0.012" and 0.010") are investigated. Tests are performed both with and without a compression ramp installed. This direct comparison allows characterization of the effect of the SWBLI on the system dynamics. High-speed stereoscopic digital image correlation (DIC) and fast-response pressure sensitive paint (PSP) are used to obtain simultaneous full field deformation and surface pressure of the panels. The results show that the shock induced by the 20compression ramp leads to separation of the turbulent boundary layer close to the ramp starting at about 80% of the panel length. This results in a region of large pressure fluctuations which primarily increase the vibration amplitude of the second panel mode. Analysis of the fundamental mode, which contains most of the vibration energy of the panel, shows that the SWBLI does not lead to changes of this mode, neither in frequency, amplitude or mode shape. On the other hand, analysis of the shock foot motion shows that the shock primarily oscillates at the fundamental frequency of the panel. This means that while the shock and panel oscillate at the same frequency, it is not two-way coupling. The panel vibration dictates the motion of the shock, but the shock (or rather the SWBLI) does not modify the fundamental panel vibration beyond the forcing provided by the turbulent boundary layer. Full field surface pressure predictions are made using linearized potential flow theory, which relates the local slope of the panel to the surface pressure. Results are found to be in good agreement in the region of attached flow. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; (, Fluids)
    null (Ed.)
    A closed-loop control algorithm for the reduction of turbulent flow separation over NACA 0015 airfoil equipped with leading-edge synthetic jet actuators (SJAs) is presented. A system identification approach based on Nonlinear Auto-Regressive Moving Average with eXogenous inputs (NARMAX) technique was used to predict nonlinear dynamics of the fluid flow and for the design of the controller system. Numerical simulations based on URANS equations are performed at Reynolds number of 106 for various airfoil incidences with and without closed-loop control. The NARMAX model for flow over an airfoil is based on the static pressure data, and the synthetic jet actuator is developed using an incompressible flow model. The corresponding NARMAX identification model developed for the pressure data is nonlinear; therefore, the describing function technique is used to linearize the system within its frequency range. Low-pass filtering is used to obtain quasi-linear state values, which assist in the application of linear control techniques. The reference signal signifies the condition of a fully re-attached flow, and it is determined based on the linearization of the original signal during open-loop control. The controller design follows the standard proportional-integral (PI) technique for the single-input single-output system. The resulting closed-loop response tracks the reference value and leads to significant improvements in the transient response over the open-loop system. The NARMAX controller enhances the lift coefficient from 0.787 for the uncontrolled case to 1.315 for the controlled case with an increase of 67.1%. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email