C. Pozrikidis is a professor in the department ment of AMES and directs the CFD research group.
Rheology is the study of deformation and flow of matter.
A rheological system usually involves polymeric solutions or melts, but it may also involve organic or inorganic liquids with suspended deformable drops or solid particles. Suspensions of deformable particles such as liquid drops, capsules, and biological cells arise in many biological and engineering applications. Examples include the flow of blood and other biological fluids, crucial to much of the current biotechnology research, and the flow of polymerizing reactants, fundamental to the development of new materials. The study of suspensions presents a formidable challenge to scientists and engineers. While the flow of a homogeneous fluid is determined by the way in which the fluid is acted upon by its boundaries, the flow of a multi-component fluid is also affected by the way the individual suspended entities interact with each other and with the boundaries of the flow.