Graduate Studies, UNL

 

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

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First Advisor

Yusong Li

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Committee Members

Jae Sung Park, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Tirthankar Roy

Department

Civil Engineering

Date of this Version

4-10-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy

Major: Civil Engineering

Under the supervision of Professor Yusong Li

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Ryan Haggerty. Used by permission

Abstract

Understanding multiphase flow has many important environmental and engineering applications. For example, understanding gas flow in porous media is useful for energy storage, petroleum engineering, and contaminant cleanup. Nano- and microparticle transport is vital for enhanced oil recovery techniques and environmental contamination. Despite their relevance to environmental engineering, multiphase flows, especially with concentrated particle suspensions, are still a complex and developing topic. Additionally, hydrophobic surfaces are a relatively new area of research, for while the effects of hydrophobicity are observable, the mechanisms may occur on several scales. Hydrophobicity leads to a property called “slip,” which contradicts the traditional treatment of the interface between a solid and fluid. No-slip boundary conditions are useful and accurate at the macroscale, but at the microscale, where physical behaviors of great importance to environmental engineering occur, they may not be accurate in many instances. This dissertation investigates these slip conditions on a particle surface in the context of concentrated flows through microchannels. Imaging data obtained through in situ microscopy confirmed a sharp deviation from traditional no-slip particle transport models, including enhanced central migration across all axes and amplified velocity at the suspension front. Flow rate, concentration, and confinement were varied to determine the parameters’ effects on the slippery system and compared to identical non-slippery data as a benchmark.

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