Caustic formation in a non-Gaussian model for turbulent aerosols

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Hauptverfasser: Meibohm, J., Sundberg, L., Mehlig, B., Gustavsson, K.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Meibohm, J.
Sundberg, L.
Mehlig, B.
Gustavsson, K.
author_facet Meibohm, J.
Sundberg, L.
Mehlig, B.
Gustavsson, K.
contents Caustics in the dynamics of heavy particles in turbulence accelerate particle collisions. The rate $\mathscr{J}$ at which these singularities form depends sensitively on the Stokes number St, the non-dimensional inertia parameter. Exact results for this sensitive dependence have been obtained using Gaussian statistical models for turbulent aerosols. However, direct numerical simulations of heavy particles in turbulence yield much larger caustic-formation rates than predicted by the Gaussian theory. In order to understand possible mechanisms explaining this difference, we analyse a non-Gaussian statistical model for caustic formation in the limit of small St. We show that at small St, $\mathscr{J}$ depends sensitively on the tails of the distribution of Lagrangian fluid-velocity gradients. This explains why different authors obtained different St-dependencies of $\mathscr{J}$ in numerical-simulation studies. The most-likely gradient fluctuation that induces caustics at small St, by contrast, is the same in the non-Gaussian and Gaussian models. Direct-numerical simulation results for particles in turbulence show that the optimal fluctuation is similar, but not identical, to that obtained by the model calculations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_10689
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Caustic formation in a non-Gaussian model for turbulent aerosols
Meibohm, J.
Sundberg, L.
Mehlig, B.
Gustavsson, K.
Fluid Dynamics
Statistical Mechanics
Caustics in the dynamics of heavy particles in turbulence accelerate particle collisions. The rate $\mathscr{J}$ at which these singularities form depends sensitively on the Stokes number St, the non-dimensional inertia parameter. Exact results for this sensitive dependence have been obtained using Gaussian statistical models for turbulent aerosols. However, direct numerical simulations of heavy particles in turbulence yield much larger caustic-formation rates than predicted by the Gaussian theory. In order to understand possible mechanisms explaining this difference, we analyse a non-Gaussian statistical model for caustic formation in the limit of small St. We show that at small St, $\mathscr{J}$ depends sensitively on the tails of the distribution of Lagrangian fluid-velocity gradients. This explains why different authors obtained different St-dependencies of $\mathscr{J}$ in numerical-simulation studies. The most-likely gradient fluctuation that induces caustics at small St, by contrast, is the same in the non-Gaussian and Gaussian models. Direct-numerical simulation results for particles in turbulence show that the optimal fluctuation is similar, but not identical, to that obtained by the model calculations.
title Caustic formation in a non-Gaussian model for turbulent aerosols
topic Fluid Dynamics
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.10689