Caustics in turbulent aerosols form along the Vieillefosse line at weak particle inertia

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Meibohm, Jan, Gustavsson, Kristian, Mehlig, Bernhard
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2022
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author Meibohm, Jan
Gustavsson, Kristian
Mehlig, Bernhard
author_facet Meibohm, Jan
Gustavsson, Kristian
Mehlig, Bernhard
contents Caustic singularities of the spatial distribution of particles in turbulent aerosols enhance collision rates and accelerate coagulation. Here we investigate how and where caustics form at weak particle inertia, by analysing a three-dimensional Gaussian statistical model for turbulent aerosols in the persistent limit, where the flow varies slowly compared with the particle relaxation time. In this case, correlations between particle- and fluid-velocity gradients are strong, and caustics are induced by large, strain-dominated excursions of the fluid-velocity gradients. These excursions must cross a characteristic threshold in the plane spanned by the invariants $Q$ and $R$ of the fluid-velocity gradients. Our method predicts that the most likely way to reach this threshold is by a unique ``optimal fluctuation'' that propagates along the Vieillefosse line, $27R^2/4 +Q^3=0$. We determine the shape of the optimal fluctuation as a function of time and show that it is dominant in numerical statistical-model simulations even for moderate particle inertia.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2207_14190
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Caustics in turbulent aerosols form along the Vieillefosse line at weak particle inertia
Meibohm, Jan
Gustavsson, Kristian
Mehlig, Bernhard
Fluid Dynamics
Statistical Mechanics
Caustic singularities of the spatial distribution of particles in turbulent aerosols enhance collision rates and accelerate coagulation. Here we investigate how and where caustics form at weak particle inertia, by analysing a three-dimensional Gaussian statistical model for turbulent aerosols in the persistent limit, where the flow varies slowly compared with the particle relaxation time. In this case, correlations between particle- and fluid-velocity gradients are strong, and caustics are induced by large, strain-dominated excursions of the fluid-velocity gradients. These excursions must cross a characteristic threshold in the plane spanned by the invariants $Q$ and $R$ of the fluid-velocity gradients. Our method predicts that the most likely way to reach this threshold is by a unique ``optimal fluctuation'' that propagates along the Vieillefosse line, $27R^2/4 +Q^3=0$. We determine the shape of the optimal fluctuation as a function of time and show that it is dominant in numerical statistical-model simulations even for moderate particle inertia.
title Caustics in turbulent aerosols form along the Vieillefosse line at weak particle inertia
topic Fluid Dynamics
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.14190