Manchester Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics

The Manchester Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics is comprised of researchers from the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester. Research within the group is based upon the application of a combined approach of theoretical modelling, computation and detailed quantitative experimental investigations of nonlinear phenomena.

Granular jets and hydraulic jumps on an inclined planeMulti-component particle-size segregation in shallow granular avalanchesGravity-driven granular free-surface flow around a circular cylinderRaleigh-Taylor instability in a finite cylinderParticle-size segregation in dense granular avalanchesUnderlying asymmetry within particle size segregationSegregation induced finger formation in granular free-surface flows

Latest News: Work at the MCND on the curling of ribbons has been featured in a BBC News article. For more details see Anne Juel's site or our paper in PNAS.

Features

A perforated column can buckle in a complex way when compressed, due to interactions between deformations over the lengthscale of the whole column, bending of the thin ligaments that separate the perforations, and nonlinearity of material response. Read more...

A granular flow around an obstacle, and the shape of the static deposit it leaves behind, are sensitive to details of the granular friction. In particular, frictional hysteresis is a crucial part of the physics at the interface between flowing and static grains. Read more...

A semi-infinite air finger propagates into an elastic-walled channel initially filled by a viscous fluid. The influence of gravity causes asymmetries in the channel wall shapes and in the thicknesses of the fluid films above and below the finger, leading to a monotonic relationship between the air pressure and finger speed.
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Granular fingering and segregation-mobility feedback

A bidisperse granular avalanche exhibits a frontal instability which evolves into levee-channelised 'fingers'.

Granular shocks in shallow free-surface flows

Granular avalanches exhibit discontinuous shocks and bores with complex interaction dynamics.