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Theoretical collision model of elongated particles in turbulence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2026

Haoran Luo Open the ORCID record for Haoran Luo [Opens in a new window] ,
Jianda Huang Open the ORCID record for Jianda Huang [Opens in a new window]  and
Lihao Zhao
Haoran Luo
Affiliation:
Xingjian College, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
Jianda Huang
Affiliation:
AML, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
Lihao Zhao*
Affiliation:
AML, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China State Key Laboratory of Advanced Space Propulsion, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing
*
Corresponding author: Lihao Zhao, zhaolihao@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
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Abstract

The collisions between elongated particles in turbulence play an important role in various natural and industrial processes. In this study, we establish a theoretical model to estimate the collision kernels of monodisperse elongated passive particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The model is composed of two terms: the collision kernel with fixed relative angles and the angular-volumetric number density of neighbouring pairs, where we first derive under the Gaussian hypothesis of the fluid velocity gradients and then incorporate a non-Gaussianity factor into the formulations. The collision kernels obtained by the present model are in a good agreement with that of direct numerical simulations. Moreover, our model provides insights into the mechanism of the relative alignment between nearby particle pairs and the chain formation in turbulence, from the perspective of particle collisions.

JFM classification

Turbulent Flows: Isotropic turbulence Biological Fluid Dynamics: Collective behaviour

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JFM Papers
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Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 1030 , 10 March 2026 , A38
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© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

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