Group

Home/news
Staff
N.Vandewalle
S.Dorbolo
Ch.Becco
H.Caps
F.Ludewig
G.Lumay
Y.Bertho
T.Gilet
D.Terwagne

Research

Antibubbles
Droplets
Grains
Bubbles
Foams
Microgravity
Fish Tracking
Papers
Picture gallery

Networks

Collaborations
LARME
COST
MAP
ARC

Applications

Equipment
Softwares
Partners

Education

General page
Physics
Theor. Physics
Stat. Phys
Physiciens en herbe
Do-it-yourself

Links

Physics Dept.
BPS - SFP - EPS
CSPW

Hervé CAPS

Education and Current Position

1996-2000 : Physics student at the University of Liège (high honors).

2000-2001 : DEA in statistical physics (highest honors).

2001-2004 : PhD in Statistical Physics financially supported by FRIA (highest honors).

2004-2005 : PRODEX researcher at GRASP.

2005-Present : FNRS researcher at GRASP.

Address

GRASP, Département de Physique B5a, local 3/55
Sart-Tilman, Université de Liège,
B-4000 Liège, Belgium

phone: +(32) 4.366.37.03
fax: +(32) 4.366.29.90
E-mail: herve.caps@ulg.ac.be

Research Interests

Granular Materials

	Current ripples The stability of a sand-water interface is studied in a cylindrical dish. As the fluid shears the sand layer, asymetric current ripples are created. Their occurrence and morphological characteristics are then related to fluid flow properties.
	Segregation in Oyama's drum An horizontal cylinder is half-filled with a granular mixture. The setup is then put into rotation. After some time (typically 1h) phase segregation appears by mean of axial bands. As time goes on, bands coalesce, sometimes in complicated way.
	Bubble flows Assemblies of nearly frictionless entities are studied. This granular material with very low dissipation at contact points is reach by mean of small air bubbles. (see more)

Complex fluids

	Antibubbles By gently pouring a liquid containing surfactant over the same liquid, antibubbles may be created. Their lifetime is about 15 minutes. The drainage has been found to be the main mechanism that drives their lifetime. (see more)
	Foams in microgravity On earth, gravity is so strong that foam drainage is generaly observed. On contrary, in microgravity conditions, only capillary rise remains. This allows foam imbibition study as well as experiments on foam with very hogh liquid fraction.
	Dancing bubbles Under vertical oscillations, a large air bubble (typically 4ml) undergoes deformation. If this acceleration is strong enough, bubble split occurs. Different forces such as capillarity and inertia are involved in this splitting process.
	IR absorption Thermal convection in thin liquid films is studied with the help of a IR camera. Automatic film thickness measurement procedure has been developed. The influence of a cooling or heating on the film lifetime is investigated.
	Thin Films Under Earth environments, thin soap films are unstable due to gravitational drainage. Thickness variations are investigated with the help of optical interferometry. New and robust technique has been developed.

The Euler's disk

Why does it stop ?

A coin spun onto a table will remains in motion until it abruptally stops. Its angular velocity tends to infinity as cut-off approaches. With the help of a high speed video camera, the slipping of the disk has been emphasized as the major source for energy dissipation.

Darts target

Is it that complicated ?

Numerical simulations (optimization) are used to show the shortest way to victory. Experiments in process...

Educational physics

Different demonstration setups has been built. Ranging from tornado machine to hovercraft, these large experimental appartus aim to grasp the public attention to physics.

Curriculum Vitae

Full text in PDF

Active scientific collaborations

Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille (LML): F. Zoueshtiagh,
Université de Lille - Villeneuve d'Ascq - France
Dancing bubbles

Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes (PMMH): J.-E. Wesfreid,
Ecole supérieure de physique et chimie industrielles - Paris - France
Sand ripples

Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes (PMMH): Ph. Petijean, P. Kurowski,
Ecole supérieure de physique et chimie industrielles - Paris - France
Dancing bubbles

Foam Physics (TC): D. Weaire, S. Cox,
Trinity College - Dublin - Ireland
Dancing bubbles