Study of Concentrated Short Fiber Suspensions in Flows, Using Topological Data Analysis

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Data Analysis

Background:

• Reinforced polymer processing involves concentrated suspensions with significant fiber interactions.
• Fiber orientation and trajectory are crucial for material properties and processing outcomes.
• Understanding fiber behavior under flow conditions is essential for optimizing manufacturing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To statistically characterize the effects of fiber interactions on fiber trajectories in concentrated suspensions.
• To investigate the influence of fiber volume fraction and shear rate on fiber movement.
• To demonstrate the utility of Topological Data Analysis (TDA) in analyzing these complex trajectories.

Main Methods:

• Discrete simulation of concentrated suspension flow.
• Statistical analysis of fiber geometrical center trajectories.
• Application of Topological Data Analysis (TDA) and persistence images.

Main Results:

• Fiber interactions significantly affect fiber trajectories, with effects dependent on concentration and shear.
• TDA successfully extracts characteristic patterns from fiber trajectories.
• Persistence images derived from TDA reveal patterns linked to flow kinematics and suspension concentration.

Conclusions:

• TDA is a powerful tool for analyzing complex fiber trajectories in concentrated suspensions.
• Extracted patterns can characterize the dependence of fiber behavior on flow conditions.
• This approach has potential applications in rheology, classification, and processing monitoring of reinforced polymers.