Eur. Phys. J. B 61, 83-88 (2008)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2008-00030-4

Can a difference in molecular weights cause an eruption in a driven flow of self-organizing immiscible system?

¹ Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS, 39529, USA
² Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, 39406-5046, USA

Corresponding author: ^a ras.pandey@usm.edu

Received: 1 August 2007
Revised: 27 November 2007
Published online: 23 January 2008

Abstract

Driven flow of a non-equilibrium non-conservative (NENC) system with a mixture of immiscible particles (A,B of molecular weight M_A, M_B) exhibits self-organizing patterns (segregation, phase-separation, etc.) in steady-state. The flow response (v) of mass flux density (j) to bias (H), in steady-state is found to be sensitive to molecular weight ratio (α = M_B/M_A). While the flux density (j) responds linearly to bias for both components (A, B) at α = 1, onset of eruptive response occurs at extreme bias (H ↦ 1) at α > 1 where v ↦∞ for heavier (B) and v ↦- ∞ for lighter (A) constituents. Difference in molecular weights (M_A, M_B) is not only critical to eruptive flow but also in controlling the flow response prior to this crossover.