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Clustering of rapidly settling, low-inertia particle pairs in isotropic turbulence. Part 2. Comparison of theory and DNS
- Sarma L. Rani, Rohit Dhariwal, Donald L. Koch
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 871 / 25 July 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 22 May 2019, pp. 477-488
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Part 1 (Rani et al. J. Fluid Mech., vol. 871, 2019, pp. 450–476) of this study presented a stochastic theory for the clustering of monodisperse, rapidly settling, low-Stokes-number particle pairs in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The theory involved the development of closure approximations for the drift and diffusion fluxes in the probability density function (p.d.f.) equation for the pair relative positions $\boldsymbol{r}$. In this part 2 paper, the theory is quantitatively analysed by comparing its predictions of particle clustering with data from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of isotropic turbulence containing particles settling under gravity. The simulations were performed at a Taylor micro-scale Reynolds number $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}=77.76$ for three Froude numbers $Fr=\infty ,0.052,0.006$, where $Fr$ is the ratio of the Kolmogorov scale of acceleration and the magnitude of gravitational acceleration. Thus, $Fr=\infty$ corresponds to zero gravity, and $Fr=0.006$ to the highest magnitude of gravity among the three DNS cases. For each $Fr$, particles of Stokes numbers in the range $0.01\leqslant St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}\leqslant 0.2$ were tracked in the DNS, and particle clustering quantified both as a function of separation and the spherical polar angle. We compared the DNS and theory values for the exponent $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ characterizing the power-law dependence of clustering on separation. The $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ from the $Fr=0.006$ DNS case are in reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions obtained using the second drift closure (referred to as DF2). To quantify the anisotropy in clustering, we calculated the leading–order coefficient in the spherical harmonics expansion of the p.d.f. of pair relative positions. The coefficients predicted by the theory (DF2) again show reasonable agreement with those calculated from the DNS clustering data for $Fr=0.006$. However, we note that in spite of the high magnitude of gravity, the clustering is only marginally anisotropic both in DNS and theory. The theory predicts that the spherical harmonic coefficient scales with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}(=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{2}St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}^{2})$, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{2}$ is the ratio of the drift and diffusion flux coefficients. Since the drift flux, and thereby $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{2}$, is seen to decrease with gravity for $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}<1$, the anisotropy is also correspondingly diminished.
Clustering of rapidly settling, low-inertia particle pairs in isotropic turbulence. Part 1. Drift and diffusion flux closures
- Sarma L. Rani, Vijay K. Gupta, Donald L. Koch
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 871 / 25 July 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 22 May 2019, pp. 450-476
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In this two-part study, we present the development and analysis of a stochastic theory for characterizing the relative positions of monodisperse, low-inertia particle pairs that are settling rapidly in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. In the limits of small Stokes number and Froude number such that $Fr\ll St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}\ll 1$, closures are developed for the drift and diffusion fluxes in the probability density function (p.d.f.) equation for the pair relative positions. The theory focuses on the relative motion of particle pairs in the dissipation regime of turbulence, i.e. for pair separations smaller than the Kolmogorov length scale. In this regime, the theory approximates the fluid velocity field in a reference frame following the primary particle as locally linear. In this part 1 paper, we present the derivation of closure approximations for the drift and diffusion fluxes in the p.d.f. equation for pair relative positions $\boldsymbol{r}$. The drift flux contains the time integral of the third and fourth moments of the ‘seen’ fluid velocity gradients along the trajectories of primary particles. These moments may be analytically resolved by making approximations regarding the ‘seen’ velocity gradient. Accordingly, two closure forms are derived specifically for the drift flux. The first invokes the assumption that the fluid velocity gradient along particle trajectories has a Gaussian distribution. In the second drift closure, we account for the correlation time scales of dissipation rate and enstrophy by decomposing the velocity gradient into the strain-rate and rotation-rate tensors scaled by the turbulent dissipation rate and enstrophy, respectively. An analytical solution to the p.d.f. $\langle P\rangle (r,\unicode[STIX]{x1D703})$ is then derived, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ is the spherical polar angle. It is seen that the p.d.f. has a power-law dependence on separation $r$ of the form $\langle P\rangle (r,\unicode[STIX]{x1D703})\sim r^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}}$ with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}\sim St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}^{2}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}<0$, analogous to that for the radial distribution function of non-settling pairs. An explicit expression is derived for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ in terms of the drift and diffusion closures. The $\langle P\rangle (r,\unicode[STIX]{x1D703})$ solution also shows that, for a given $r$, the clustering of $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}\ll 1$ particles is only weakly anisotropic, which is in conformity with prior observations from direct numerical simulations of isotropic turbulence containing settling particles.
Stochastic theory and direct numerical simulations of the relative motion of high-inertia particle pairs in isotropic turbulence
- Rohit Dhariwal, Sarma L. Rani, Donald L. Koch
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 813 / 25 February 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 17 January 2017, pp. 205-249
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The relative velocities and positions of monodisperse high-inertia particle pairs in isotropic turbulence are studied using direct numerical simulations (DNS), as well as Langevin simulations (LS) based on a probability density function (PDF) kinetic model for pair relative motion. In a prior study (Rani et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 756, 2014, pp. 870–902), the authors developed a stochastic theory that involved deriving closures in the limit of high Stokes number for the diffusivity tensor in the PDF equation for monodisperse particle pairs. The diffusivity contained the time integral of the Eulerian two-time correlation of fluid relative velocities seen by pairs that are nearly stationary. The two-time correlation was analytically resolved through the approximation that the temporal change in the fluid relative velocities seen by a pair occurs principally due to the advection of smaller eddies past the pair by large-scale eddies. Accordingly, two diffusivity expressions were obtained based on whether the pair centre of mass remained fixed during flow time scales, or moved in response to integral-scale eddies. In the current study, a quantitative analysis of the (Rani et al. 2014) stochastic theory is performed through a comparison of the pair statistics obtained using LS with those from DNS. LS consist of evolving the Langevin equations for pair separation and relative velocity, which is statistically equivalent to solving the classical Fokker–Planck form of the pair PDF equation. Langevin simulations of particle-pair dispersion were performed using three closure forms of the diffusivity – i.e. the one containing the time integral of the Eulerian two-time correlation of the seen fluid relative velocities and the two analytical diffusivity expressions. In the first closure form, the two-time correlation was computed using DNS of forced isotropic turbulence laden with stationary particles. The two analytical closure forms have the advantage that they can be evaluated using a model for the turbulence energy spectrum that closely matched the DNS spectrum. The three diffusivities are analysed to quantify the effects of the approximations made in deriving them. Pair relative-motion statistics obtained from the three sets of Langevin simulations are compared with the results from the DNS of (moving) particle-laden forced isotropic turbulence for $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}=10,20,40,80$ and $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}=76,131$. Here, $St_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}}$ is the particle Stokes number based on the Kolmogorov time scale and $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$ is the Taylor micro-scale Reynolds number. Statistics such as the radial distribution function (RDF), the variance and kurtosis of particle-pair relative velocities and the particle collision kernel were computed using both Langevin and DNS runs, and compared. The RDFs from the stochastic runs were in good agreement with those from the DNS. Also computed were the PDFs $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}(U|r)$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}(U_{r}|r)$ of relative velocity $U$ and of the radial component of relative velocity $U_{r}$ respectively, both PDFs conditioned on separation $r$. The first closure form, involving the Eulerian two-time correlation of fluid relative velocities, showed the best agreement with the DNS results for the PDFs.
A stochastic model for the relative motion of high Stokes number particles in isotropic turbulence
- Sarma L. Rani, Rohit Dhariwal, Donald L. Koch
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 756 / 10 October 2014
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 September 2014, pp. 870-902
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The probability density function (PDF) kinetic equation describing the relative motion of inertial particle pairs in a turbulent flow requires closure of the phase-space diffusion current. A novel analytical closure for the diffusion current is presented that is applicable to high-inertia particle pairs with Stokes numbers $\def \xmlpi #1{}\def \mathsfbi #1{\boldsymbol {\mathsf {#1}}}\let \le =\leqslant \let \leq =\leqslant \let \ge =\geqslant \let \geq =\geqslant \def \Pr {\mathit {Pr}}\def \Fr {\mathit {Fr}}\def \Rey {\mathit {Re}}{\mathit{St}}_r \gg 1$. Here ${\mathit{St}}_r$ is a Stokes number based on the time scale $\tau _r$ of eddies whose size scales with pair separation $r$. In the asymptotic limit of ${\mathit{St}}_r \gg 1$, the pair PDF kinetic equation reduces to an equation of Fokker–Planck form. The diffusion tensor characterizing the diffusion current in the Fokker–Planck equation is equal to $1/\tau _v^2$ multiplied by the time integral of the Lagrangian correlation of fluid relative velocities along particle-pair trajectories. Here, $\tau _v$ is the particle viscous relaxation time. Closure of the diffusion tensor is achieved by converting the Lagrangian correlations of fluid relative velocities ‘seen’ by pairs into Eulerian fluid-velocity correlations at pair separations that remain essentially constant during time scales of $O(\tau _r)$; the pair centre of mass, however, is not stationary and responds to eddies with time scales comparable to or smaller than $\tau _v$. For isotropic turbulence, Eulerian fluid-velocity correlations may be expressed as Fourier transforms of the velocity spectrum tensor, enabling us to derive a closed-form expression for the diffusion tensor. A salient feature of this closure is that it has a single, unique form for pair separations spanning the entire spectrum of turbulence scales, unlike previous closures that involve velocity structure functions with different forms for the integral, inertial subrange, and Kolmogorov-scale separations. Using this closure, Langevin equations, which are statistically equivalent to the Fokker–Planck equation, were solved to evolve particle-pair relative velocities and separations in stationary isotropic turbulence. The Langevin equation approach enables the simulation of the full PDF of pair relative motion, instead of only the first few moments of the PDF as is the case in a moments-based approach. Accordingly, PDFs $\varOmega (U|r)$ and $\varOmega (U_r|r)$ are computed and presented for various separations $r$, where the former is the PDF of relative velocity $U$ and the latter is the PDF of the radial component of relative velocity $U_r$, both conditioned upon the separation $r$. Consistent with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) study of Sundaram & Collins (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 335, 1997, pp. 75–109), the Langevin simulations capture the transition of $\varOmega (U|r)$ from being Gaussian at integral-scale separations to an exponential PDF at Kolmogorov-scale separations. The radial distribution functions (RDFs) computed from these simulations also show reasonable quantitative agreement with those from the DNS study of Février, Simonin & Legendre (Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Multiphase Flow, New Orleans, 2001).
Clustering of aerosol particles in isotropic turbulence
- JAEHUN CHUN, DONALD L. KOCH, SARMA L. RANI, ARUJ AHLUWALIA, LANCE R. COLLINS
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 536 / 10 August 2005
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 26 July 2005, pp. 219-251
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It has been recognized that particle inertia throws dense particles out of regions of high vorticity and leads to an accumulation of particles in the straining-flow regions of a turbulent flow field. However, recent direct numerical simulations (DNS) indicate that the tendency to cluster is evident even at particle separations smaller than the size of the smallest eddy. Indeed, the particle radial distribution function (RDF), an important measure of clustering, increases as an inverse power of the interparticle separation for separations much smaller than the Kolmogorov length scale. Motivated by this observation, we have developed an analytical theory to predict the RDF in a turbulent flow for particles with a small, but non-zero Stokes number. Here, the Stokes number ($\hbox{\it St}$) is the ratio of the particle's viscous relaxation time to the Kolmogorov time. The theory approximates the turbulent flow in a reference frame following an aerosol particle as a local linear flow field with a velocity gradient tensor and acceleration that vary stochastically in time. In monodisperse suspensions, the power-law dependence of the pair probability is seen to arise from a balance of an inward drift caused by the particles' inertia that scales linearly with the particle separation distance and a pairwise diffusion owing to the random nature of the flow with a diffusivity that scales quadratically with the particle separation distance. The combined effect leads to a power law behaviour for the RDF with an exponent, $c_1$, that is proportional to $\hbox{\it St}^2$. Predictions of the analytical theory are compared with two types of numerical simulation: (i) particle pairs interacting in a local linear flow whose velocity varies according to a stochastic velocity gradient model; (ii) particles interacting in a flow field obtained from DNS of isotropic turbulence. The agreement with both types of simulation is very good. The theory also predicts the RDF for unlike particle pairs (particle pairs with different Stokes numbers). In this case, a second diffusion process occurs owing to the difference in the response of the pair to local fluid accelerations. The acceleration diffusivity is independent of the pair separation distance; thus, the RDF of particles with even slightly different viscous relaxation times undergoes a transition from the power law behaviour at large separations to a constant value at sufficiently small separations. The radial separation corresponding to the transition between these two behaviours is predicted to be proportional to the difference between the Stokes numbers of the two particles. Once again, the agreement between the theory and simulations is found to be very good. Clustering of particles enhances their rate of coagulation or coalescence. The theory and linear flow simulations are used to obtain predictions for the rate of coagulation of particles in the absence of hydrodynamic and colloidal particle interactions.
Computational assessment of subcritical and delayed onset in spiral Poiseuille flow experiments
- DAVID L. COTRELL, SARMA L. RANI, ARNE J. PEARLSTEIN
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 509 / 25 June 2004
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 June 2004, pp. 353-378
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For spiral Poiseuille flow with radius ratios $\eta \equiv R_i/R_o = 0.77$ and 0.95, we have computed complete linear stability boundaries, where $R_i$ and $R_o$ are the inner and outer cylinder radii, respectively. The analysis accounts for arbitrary disturbances of infinitesimal amplitude over the entire range of Reynolds numbers $Re$ for which the flow is stable for some range of Taylor number $Ta$, and extends previous work to several non-zero rotation rate ratios $\mu \equiv \Omega_o/\Omega_i$, where $\Omega_i$ and $\Omega_o$ are the (signed) angular speeds. For each combination of $\mu$ and $\eta$, there is a wide range of $Re$ for which the critical $Ta$ is nearly independent of $Re$, followed by a precipitous drop to $Ta = 0$ at the $Re$ at which non-rotating annular Poiseuille flow becomes unstable with respect to a Tollmien–Schlichting-like disturbance. Comparison is also made to a wealth of experimental data for the onset of instability. For $Re > 0$, we compute critical values of $Ta$ for most of the $\mu = 0$ data, and for all of the non-zero-$\mu$ data. For $\mu = 0$ and $\eta = 0.955$, agreement with data from an annulus with aspect ratio (length divided by gap) greater than 570 is within 3.2% for $Re \leq 325$ (based on the gap and mean axial speed), strongly suggesting that no finite-amplitude instability occurs over this range of $Re$. At higher $Re$, onset is delayed, with experimental values of $Ta_{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it crit}}}$ exceeding computed values. For $\mu = 0$ and smaller $\eta$, comparison to experiment (with smaller aspect ratios) at low $Re$ is slightly less good. For $\eta = 0.77$ and a range of $\mu$, agreement with experiment is very good for $Re < 135$ except at the most positive or negative $\mu$ (where $Ta_{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it crit}}}^{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it expt}}} > Ta_{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it crit}}}^{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it comp}}}$), whereas for $Re \geq 166$, $Ta_{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it crit}}}^{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it expt}}} > Ta_{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it crit}}}^{\hbox{\scriptsize{\it comp}}}$ for all but the most positive $\mu$. For $\eta = 0.9497$ and 0.959 and all but the most extreme values of $\mu$, agreement is excellent (generally within 2%) up to the largest $Re$ considered experimentally (200), again suggesting that finite-amplitude instability is unimportant.