Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Nonlinear Instability and Bifurcation Laboratory (NIBL)
Led by Ranga Narayanan · Chemical Engineering
What we study
The lab studies how patterns form in processes like metal printing, crystal growth, and electroplating. They use math models, experiments with imaging and sensors, and computer simulations to understand these patterns.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Computational
- Coding helps
- Project
- 1
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Electrostatic Resonance in Levitated Molten Metal Droplets
The lab studies how a levitated droplet of molten metal vibrates when an electric field is changed. By measuring the shape and size of the vibrations, students learn to calculate surface tension and viscosity of the metal, which helps design better space‑based manufacturing.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 418
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Knowing Thermo-Physical Properties For Space Manufacturing
2026 · SPACE
Collects data on how liquids behave in space to help design future space-based machines.
- A versatile microfluidic electrochemical platform for diffusion-controlled, quasi-one-dimensional interfacial studies
2026 · Lab on a Chip
Creates a tiny lab-on-a-chip to study how metal dissolves and grows in water.
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- Resonance induced instability for surface tension measurement part 2, extension to terrestrial environments and limitations
2026 · npj Microgravity
Measures a liquid's surface tension by shaking a floating droplet in space.
- Gravitational effects on Faraday instability in a viscoelastic liquid
2025 · Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Shows how gravity and liquid thickness affect waves in a bouncing liquid.
- Enhancement of heat transfer using Faraday instability
2025 · Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Uses shaking to mix hot and cold liquids faster, especially in space.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Ranga Narayanan hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.