The dynamics of elongated inertial particles in an extensional flow is studied numerically by performing simulations of freely jointed bead-rod chains. The coil-stretch transition and the tumbling instability are characterized as a function of three parameters: The Peclet number, the Stokes number and the chain length. Numerical results show that in the limit of infinite chain length, particles are trapped in a coiled or stretched state. The coil-stretch transition is also shown to depend non-linearly on the Stokes and Peclet number. Results also reveal that tumbling occurs close to the coil-stretch transition and that the persistence time is a non-linear function of Stokes and Peclet numbers.
The phenomenon of tumbling of microscopic objects is commonly associated with shear flows. We address the question of whether tumbling can also occur in stretching-dominated flows. To answer this, we study the dynamics of a semi-flexible trumbbell in a planar extensional velocity field. We show that the trumbbell undergoes a random tumbling-through-folding motion. The probability distribution of long tumbling times is exponential with a time scale exponentially increasing with the Weissenberg number.
Using time-resolved measurements of the orientation of rigid inertial fibers in a turbulence-tank, we investigate the autocorrelation of their tumbling rate. The correlation time ($τ_d$) is well predicted by Kolmogorov inertial-range scaling based on the fiber length (L) when the fiber inertia can be neglected. For inertial fibers, we propose a simple model considering fiber inertia (measured by a tumbling Stokes number) and a viscous torque which accurately predicts both the correlation time and the variance of the tumbling rate.
We study numerically the inertial migration of a single rigid sphere and an oblate spheroid in straight square and rectangular ducts. A highly accurate interface-resolved numerical algorithm is employed to analyse the entire migration dynamics of the oblate particle and compare it with that of the sphere. Similarly to the inertial focusing of spheres, the oblate particle reaches one of the four face-centred equilibrium positions, however they are vertically aligned with the axis of symmetry in the spanwise direction. In addition, the lateral trajectories of spheres and oblates collapse into an…
We derive an effective equation of motion for the orientational dynamics of a neutrally buoyant spheroid suspended in a simple shear flow, valid for arbitrary particle aspect ratios and to linear order in the shear Reynolds number. We show how inertial effects lift the degeneracy of the Jeffery orbits and determine the stabilities of the log-rolling and tumbling orbits at infinitesimal shear Reynolds numbers. For prolate spheroids we find stable tumbling in the shear plane, log-rolling is unstable. For oblate particles, by contrast, log-rolling is stable and tumbling is unstable provided that …
We use Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations and single molecule experiments to investigate the influence of topological constraints and hydrodynamic interactions on the dynamics and rheology of solutions of ring-linear polymer blends at the overlap concentration. We find agreement between simulation and experiment in that rings in solution blends exhibit large conformational fluctuations, including extension overshoots in the startup of flow and tumbling and tank-treading at steady state. Ring polymer fluctuations increase with blend fraction of linear polymers and are peaked at a ring Weissenbe…
We analyze the dynamics of a microswimmer in pressure-driven Poiseuille flow, where fluid inertia is small but non-negligible. Using perturbation theory and the reciprocal theorem, we show that in addition to the classical inertial lift of passive particles, the active nature generates a `swimming lift', which we evaluate for neutral and pusher/puller-type swimmers. Accounting for fluid inertia engenders a rich spectrum of novel complex dynamics including bistable states, where tumbling coexists with stable centerline swimming or swinging. The dynamics is sensitive to the swimmer's hydrodynami…
The orientational dynamics of weakly inertial axisymmetric particles in a steady flow is investigated. We derive an asymptotic equation of motion for the unit axial vector along the particle symmetry axis, valid for small Stokes number St, and for any axisymmetric particle in any steady linear viscous flow. This reduced dynamics is analysed in two ways, both pertain to the case of a simple shear flow. In this case inertia induces a coupling between precession and nutation. This coupling affects the dynamics of the particle, breaks the degeneracy of the Jeffery orbits, and creates two limiting …
Inertial migration of slender prolate and thin oblate spheroids in plane Poiseuille flow
International Centre for Theoretical Sciences（国际理论科学中心）；Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research（贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁高级科学研究工程力学组）
The statistical geometry of dispersing Lagrangian clusters of four particles (tetrahedra) is studied by means of high-resolution direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional homogeneous isotropic turbulence. We give the first evidence of a self-similar regime of shape dynamics characterized by almost two-dimensional, strongly elongated geometries. The analysis of four-point velocity-difference statistics and orientation shows that inertial-range eddies typically generate a straining field with a strong extensional component aligned with the elongation direction and weak extensional/compre…
Non-spherical particles transported by an anisotropic turbulent flow preferentially align with the mean shear and intermittently tumble when the local strain fluctuates. Such an intricate behaviour is here studied for inertialess, rod-shaped particles embedded in a two-dimensional turbulent flow with homogeneous shear. A Lagrangian stochastic model for the rods angular dynamics is introduced and compared to the results of direct numerical simulations. The model consists in superposing a short-correlated random component to the steady large-scale mean shear, and can thereby be integrated analyt…
In this work, a dynamic-Immersed--Boundary method combined with a BGK-Lattice--Boltzmann technique is developed and critically discussed. The fluid evolution is obtained on a three-dimensional lattice with 19 reticular velocities (D3Q19 computational molecule) while the immersed body surface is modeled as a collection of Lagrangian points responding to an elastic potential and a bending resistance. A moving least squares reconstruction is used to accurately interpolate flow quantities and the forcing field needed to enforce the boundary condition on immersed bodies. The proposed model is widel…
Inertialess anisotropic particles in a Rayleigh-Bénard turbulent flow show maximal tumbling rates for weakly oblate shapes, in contrast with the universal behaviour observed in developed turbulence where the mean tumbling rate monotonically decreases with the particle aspect ratio. This is due to the concurrent effect of turbulent fluctuations and of a mean shear flow whose intensity, we show, is determined by the kinetic boundary layers. In Rayleigh-Bénard turbulence prolate particles align preferentially with the fluid velocity, while oblate ones orient with the temperature gradient. This an…
This study focuses on comparing the individual polymer chain dynamics in an entangled polymeric liquid under different shear and extension rates. Polymer chains under various shear rates and extension rates were simulated using a stochastic-tube model [J. Rheol. 56: 1057 (2012)]. We developed a Matlab code to visualize and analyze the simulated configurations from the stochastic-tube model. We introduced new variables to determine how the extent of linearity changes with time for different shear rates, which is more useful than a typical end-to-end distance analysis. We identified whether the …
The buoyancy-driven motion of two identical gas bubbles released in line in a liquid at rest is examined with the help of highly resolved simulations, focusing on moderately inertial regimes in which the path of an isolated bubble is vertical. Assuming first an axisymmetric evolution, equilibrium configurations of the bubble pair are determined as a function of the buoyancy-to-viscous and buoyancy-to-capillary force ratios which define the Galilei ($Ga$) and Bond ($Bo$) numbers of the system, respectively. The three-dimensional solutions reveal that this axisymmetric equilibrium is actually ne…
We study the cross-stream inertial migration of a torque-free neutrally buoyant spheroid, of an arbitrary aspect ratio $κ$, in wall-bounded plane Poiseuille flow for small particle Reynolds numbers\,($Re_p\ll1$) and confinement ratios\,($λ\ll1$), with the channel Reynolds number, $Re_c = Re_p/λ^2$, assumed to be arbitrary; here, $λ=L/H$ where $L$ is the semi-major axis of the spheroid and $H$ denotes the separation between the channel walls. In the Stokes limit\,($Re_p =0)$ and for $λ\ll 1$, a spheroid rotates along any of an infinite number of Jeffery orbits parameterized by an orbit constant…
We study the translational and rotational dynamics of neutrally-buoyant finite-size spheroids in hydrodynamic turbulence by means of fully resolved numerical simulations. We examine axisymmetric shapes, from oblate to prolate, and the particle volume dependences. We show that the accelerations and rotations experienced by non-spherical inertial-scale particles result from volume filtered fluid forces and torques, similar to spherical particles. However, the particle orientations carry signatures of preferential alignments with the surrounding flow structures, which is reflected in distinct axi…
The orientational dynamics of inertialess anisotropic particles transported by two-dimensional convective turbulent flows display a coexistence of regular and chaotic features. We numerically demonstrate that very elongated particles (rods) align preferentially with the direction of the fluid flow, i.e., horizontally close to the isothermal walls and dominantly vertically in the bulk. This behaviour is due to the the presence of a persistent large scale circulation flow structure, which induces strong shear at wall boundaries and in up/down-welling regions. The near-wall horizontal alignment o…
The sedimentation of a pair of rigid circular particles in a two-dimensional vertical channel containing a Newtonian fluid is investigated numerically, for terminal particle Reynolds numbers ranging from 1 to 10, and for a confinement ratio equal to 4. While it is widely admitted that sufficiently inertial pairs should sediment by performing a regular DKT oscillation (Drafting-Kissing-Tumbling), the present analysis shows in contrast that a chaotic regime can also exist for such particles, leading to a much slower sedimentation velocity. It consists of a nearly horizontal pair, corresponding t…
Particles in inertialess flows of shear thinning fluids are a model representation for several systems in biology, ecology, and micro-fluidics.In this paper, we analyze the motion of a spheroid in a pressure driven flow of a shear thinning fluid.The shear thinning rheology is characterized by the Carreau model.We use a combination of perturbative techniques and the reciprocal theorem to delineate the kinematics of prolate and oblate spheroids.There are two perturbative strategies adopted, one near the zero shear Newtonian plateau and the other near the infinite shear Newtonian plateau.In both …
