Energy theory for incompressible Newtonian fluids is, in many cases, capable of producing strong absolute stability criteria for steady flows. In those fluids the kinetic energy naturally defines a norm in which perturbations decay monotonically in time at sufficiently low (but non-zero) Reynolds numbers. There are, however, at least two obstructions to the generalization of such methods to Oldroyd-B fluids. One previously recognized problem is the fact that the natural energy does not correspond to a proper functional norm on perturbations. Another problem, original to this work, is the fact that fluctuations in Oldroyd-B fluids may be subject to non-normal amplification at arbitrarily low Reynolds numbers (albeit at sufficiently large Weissenberg numbers). Such transient growth, occuring even when the base flow is linearly stable, precludes the uniform monotonic decay of any reasonable measure of the disturbance's amplitude.
Non-modal amplification of disturbances in streamwise-constant channel flows of Oldroyd-B fluids is studied from an input-output point of view by analyzing the responses of the velocity components to spatio-temporal body forces. These inputs into the governing equations are assumed to be harmonic in the spanwise direction and stochastic in the wall-normal direction and in time. An explicit Reynolds number scaling of frequency responses from different forcing to different velocity components is developed, showing the same $Re$-dependence as in Newtonian fluids. It is found that some of the freq…
Low-Reynolds-number polymer solutions exhibit a chaotic behaviour known as 'elastic turbulence' when the Weissenberg number exceeds a critical value. The two-dimensional Oldroyd-B model is the simplest constitutive model that reproduces this phenomenon. To make a practical estimate of the resolution scale of the dynamics requires an assumption that an attractor of the Oldroyd-B model exists : numerical simulations show that the quantities on which this assumption is based are bounded. We estimate the Lyapunov dimension of this assumed attractor as a function of the Weissenberg number by combin…
Most biological fluids are viscoelastic, meaning that they have elastic properties in addition to the dissipative properties found in Newtonian fluids. Computational models can help us understand viscoelastic flow, but are often limited in how they deal with complex flow geometries and suspended particles. Here, we present a lattice Boltzmann solver for Oldroyd-B fluids that can handle arbitrarily-shaped fixed and moving boundary conditions, which makes it ideally suited for the simulation of confined colloidal suspensions. We validate our method using several standard rheological setups, and …
As the first endeavour, we have analyzed the pulsatile flow of Oldroyd-B viscoelastic fluid where the combined effects of fluid elasticity and pulsation parameters on the flow characteristics are numerically studied at a low Reynolds number. Computations are performed using a finite-volume based open-source solver OpenFOAM by appending the log-conformation tensor approach to stabilize the numerical solution at high Deborah number. Significant flow velocity enhancement is achieved by increasing the viscoelastic behaviour of the fluid. High-velocity gradient zones and high polymeric stress regio…
We analyze the pressure-driven flow of a viscoelastic fluid in arbitrarily shaped, narrow channels and present a theoretical framework for calculating the relationship between the flow rate $q$ and pressure drop $Δp$. We utilize the Oldroyd-B model and first identify the characteristic scales and dimensionless parameters governing the flow in the lubrication limit. Employing a perturbation expansion in powers of the Deborah number ($De$), we provide analytical expressions for the velocity, stress, and the $q-Δp$ relation in the weakly viscoelastic limit up to $O(De^2)$. Furthermore, we exploit…
Newtonian pipe flow is known to be linearly stable at all Reynolds numbers. We report, for the first time, a linear instability of pressure driven pipe flow of a viscoelastic fluid, obeying the Oldroyd-B constitutive equation commonly used to model dilute polymer solutions. The instability is shown to exist at Reynolds numbers significantly lower than those at which transition to turbulence is typically observed for Newtonian pipe flow. Our results qualitatively explain experimental observations of transition to turbulence in pipe flow of dilute polymer solutions at flow rates where Newtonian …
The recently-discovered centre-mode instability of rectilinear viscoelastic shear flow (Garg et al. Phy. Rev. Lett. 121, 024502, 2018) has offered an explanation for the origin of elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT) which occurs at lower Weissenberg ($Wi$) numbers. In support of this, we show using weakly nonlinear analysis that the subcriticality found in Page et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 154501, 2020) is generic across the neutral curve with the instability only becoming supercritical at low Reynolds ($Re$) numbers and high $Wi$. We demonstrate that the instability can be viewed as purely elas…
A modal stability analysis shows that pressure-driven pipe flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid is linearly unstable to axisymmetric perturbations, in stark contrast to its Newtonian counterpart which is linearly stable at all Reynolds numbers. The dimensionless groups that govern stability are the Reynolds number, the elasticity number, and the ratio of solvent to solution viscosity. The unstable mode has a phase speed close to the base-state maximum over the entire unstable region in the relevant parameter space, implying that the unstable mode belongs to a class of viscoelastic center modes. Unlike t…
We consider the evolution of arbitrarily large perturbations of a prescribed pure hydrodynamical flow of an electrically conducting fluid. We study whether the flow perturbations as well as the generated magnetic fields decay or grow with time and constitute a dynamo process. For that purpose we derive a generalized Reynolds-Orr equation for the sum of the kinetic energy of the hydrodynamic perturbation and the magnetic energy. The flow is confined in a finite volume so the normal component of the velocity at the boundary is zero. The tangential component is left arbitrary in contrast with pre…
Simple, linear equations relate microscopic swimmers to the corresponding gliders and pumps. They have the following set of consequences: The swimming velocity of free swimmers can be inferred from the force on the tethered swimmer and vice versa; A tethered swimmer dissipates more energy than a free swimmer; It is possible to swim with arbitrarily high efficiency, but it is impossible to pump with arbitrarily high efficiency and finally that pumping is geometric. We also solve several optimization problems associated with swimming and pumping: The problem of optimal anchoring for a certain cl…
We report the temporal and spatio-temporal stability analyses of anti-symmetric, free shear, viscoelastic flows obeying the Oldroyd-B constitutive equation in the limit of low to moderate Reynolds number and Weissenberg number. The resulting fourth order Orr-Sommerfeld equation is reduced to a set of six auxiliary equations which are numerically integrated starting from the rescaled far-field conditions, i.~e., via the Compound Matrix Method. Numerical results indicate that with increasing Weissenberg number: (a) the peak of the maximal growth rate (i. e., the maximum value of the imaginary co…
In this article, we investigate the inertial settling of an arbitrarily oriented cylinder settling under gravity. We focus on two regimes: the very short-time and long-time dynamic. By using the generalized Kirchhoff equations to describe the particle motion, we demonstrate that during the very short dynamic regime, a cylinder starting from rest behaves with sedimenting velocities and angular velocity proportional to $t$ and $t^3$, respectively. We then explore the long-time behaviour and evaluate the validity of the quasi-steady assumption under which the fluid unsteady term can be neglected.…
A comprehensive, temporal and spatiotemporal linear stability analyses of a (driven) Oldroyd-B fluid with Poiseuille base flow profile in a horizontally aligned, square, Hele-Shaw cell is reported to identify the viable regions of topological transition of the advancing interface. The dimensionless groups governing stability are the Reynolds number, $Re = \frac{b^2 ρ\mathcal{U}_0}{12 η_0 L}$, the elasticity number, $E = \frac{12 λ(1-ν)η_0}{ρb^2}$ and the ratio of solvent to polymer solution viscosity, $ν= \frac{η_s}{η_0}$; here $b$ is the cell gap, $L$ is the length/width of the cell, $\mathca…
We investigate the elastoviscoplastic flow through porous media by numerical simulations. We solve the Navier-Stokes equations combined with the elastoviscoplastic model proposed by Saramito for the stress tensor evolution. In this model, the material behaves as a viscoelastic solid when unyielded, and as a viscoelastic Oldroyd-B fluid for stresses higher than the yield stress. The porous media is made of a symmetric array of cylinders, and we solve the flow in one periodic cell. We find that the solution is time-dependent even at low Reynolds numbers as we observe oscillations in time of the …
We provide a detailed comparison of the two-dimensional, temporal and the spatiotemporal linearized analyses of the viscoelastic free shear flows in the limit of low to moderate Reynolds number and Elasticity number obeying four different types of stress-strain constitutive equations: Oldroyd-B, Upper Convected Maxwell, Johnson-Segalman (JS) and linear Phan-Thien Tanner (PTT). The resulting fourth-order Orr-Sommerfeld Equation is transformed into a set of six auxiliary equations that are numerically integrated via the Compound Matrix Method. The temporal stability analysis suggest (a) elastic …
A modal stability analysis shows that plane Poiseuille flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid becomes unstable to a `center mode' with phase speed close to the maximum base-flow velocity, $U_{max}$. The governing dimensionless groups are the Reynolds number $Re = ρU_{max} H/η$, the elasticity number $E = λη/(H^2ρ)$, and the ratio of solvent to solution viscosity $η_s/η$; here, $λ$ is the polymer relaxation time, $H$ is the channel half-width, and $ρ$ is the fluid density. For experimentally relevant values (e.g., $E \sim 0.1$ and $β\sim 0.9$), the predicted critical Reynolds number, $Re_c$, for the center…
Accurate prediction of the transition from laminar flow to turbulence remains an unresolved challenge despite its importance for understanding a variety of environmental, biological, and industrial phenomena. Well over a century of concerted effort has aimed toward a quantitative, mechanistic explanation of Osborne Reynolds' seminal observation of transition to turbulence in pipe flow, typically occurring when the ratio of inertial and viscous fluid dynamic forces -- the eponymous Reynolds number -- is approximately 2000. These studies have been confounded by subsequent observations that the R…
Previous work has established the usefulness of the resolvent operator that maps the terms nonlinear in the turbulent fluctuations to the fluctuations themselves. Further work has described the self-similarity of the resolvent arising from that of the mean velocity profile. The orthogonal modes provided by the resolvent analysis describe the wall-normal coherence of the motions and inherit that self-similarity. In this contribution, we present the implications of this similarity for the nonlinear interaction between modes with different scales and wall-normal locations. By considering the nonl…
Bead-based micro-swimmers are promising systems for payload delivery on the micro-scale. However, the principles underlying their optimal design are not yet fully understood. Here we study a simple device consisting of three arbitrarily-shaped beads connected by two springs. We analytically determine the most favorable kinematic parameters for sinusoidal driving, and show how the swimmer changes from being a pusher to a puller. For cargo carrying ellipsoidal beads, we perform geometric optimization under the constraint of a constant total volume or surface area, with the aim of maximizing the …
Purcell's scallop theorem defines the type of motions of a solid body - reciprocal motions - which cannot propel the body in a viscous fluid with zero Reynolds number. For example, the flapping of a wing is reciprocal and, as was recently shown, can lead to directed motion only if its frequency Reynolds number, Re_f, is above a critical value of order one. Using elementary examples, we show the existence of oscillatory reciprocal motions which are effective for all arbitrarily small values of the frequency Reynolds number and induce net velocities scaling as (Re_f)^α(alpha > 0). This demonstra…
The present study reports on flow past airfoils (stationary and moving) using sharp interface immersed-boundary approach. Non-boundary conforming approach like immersed-boundary method offers a viable alternative over traditional boundary conforming approach by allowing us to model flow past arbitrarily complex shapes, by eliminating the need to re-grid the flow domain as the body exhibits motion. We present flow past a NACA 0012 airfoil at stationary conditions as well as exhibiting pitching motion. Evolution of vortex dynamics and wake structures are presented to show that the developed shar…
In pipe, channel and boundary layer flows turbulence first occurs intermittently in space and time: at moderate Reynolds numbers domains of disordered turbulent motion are separated by quiescent laminar regions. Based on direct numerical simulations of pipe flow we here argue that the spatial intermittency has its origin in a nearest neighbor interaction between turbulent regions. We further show that in this regime turbulent flows are intrinsically intermittent with a well defined equilibrium turbulent fraction but without ever assuming a steady pattern. This transition scenario is analogous …
Capillary jetting of a fluid dispersed into another immiscible phase is usually limited by a critical Capillary number, a function of the Reynolds number and the fluid properties ratios. Critical conditions are set when the minimum spreading velocity of small perturbations $v^*_-$ along the jet (marginal stability velocity) is zero. Here we identify and describe parametrical regions of high technological relevance, where $v^*_- > 0$ and the jet flow is always supercritical independently of the dispersed liquid flow rate: within these relatively broad regions, the jet does not undergo the usual…
Modal stability analysis provides information about the long-time growth or decay of small-amplitude perturbations around a steady-state solution of a dynamical system. In fluid flows, exponentially growing perturbations can initiate departure from laminar flow and trigger transition to turbulence. Although flow of a Newtonian fluid through a pipe is linearly stable for very large values of the Reynolds number ($Re \sim 10^7$), a transition to turbulence often occurs for $Re$ as low as $1500$. When a dilute polymer solution is used in the place of a Newtonian fluid, the transitional value of t…
In the context of the analysis of the chaotic properties of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, direct numerical simulations are used to study the fluctuations of the finite time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) and its relation to Reynolds number, lattice size and the choice of the steptime used to compute the Lyapunov exponents. The results show that using the FTLE method produces Lyapunov exponents that are remarkably stable under the variation of the steptime and lattice size. Furthermore, it reaches such stability faster than other characteristic quantities such as energy and dissipation rate. …
In this work we present a deduction of the Saint-Venant-Exner model through an asymptotic analysis of the Navier-Stokes equations. A multi-scale analysis is performed in order to take into account that the velocity of the sediment layer is smaller than the one of the fluid layer. This leads us to consider a shallow water type system for the fluid layer and a lubrication Reynolds equation for the sediment one. This deduction provides some improvements with respect to the classical Saint-Venant-Exner model: (i) the deduced model has an associated energy. Moreover, it allows us to explain why cla…
Sommerfeld paradox roughly says that mathematically Couette linear shear is linearly stable for all Reynolds number, but experimentally arbitrarily small perturbations can induce the transition from the linear shear to turbulence when the Reynolds number is large enough. The main idea of our resolution of this paradox is to show that there is a sequence of linearly unstable shears which approaches the linear shear in the kinetic energy norm but not in the enstrophy (vorticity) norm. These oscillatory shears are single Fourier modes in the Fourier series of all the shears. In experiments, such …
Singularities of the Navier-Stokes equations occur when some derivative of the velocity field is infinite at any point of a field of flow (or, in an evolving flow, becomes infinite at any point within a finite time). Such singularities can be mathematical (as e.g. in two-dimensional flow near a sharp corner, or the collapse of a Mobius-strip soap film onto a wire boundary) in which case they can be resolved by refining the geometrical description; or they can be physical (as e.g. in the case of cusp singularities at a fluid/fluid interface) in which case resolution of the singularity involves …
We examine how known unstable equilibria of the Navier-Stokes equations in plane Couette flow adapt to the presence of an imposed stable density difference between the two boundaries for varying values of the Prandtl number $Pr$, the ratio of viscosity to density diffusivity, and fixed moderate Reynolds number, $Re=400$. In the two asymptotic limits $Pr \to 0$ and $Pr \to \infty$, it is found that such solutions exist at arbitrarily high bulk stratification but for different physical reasons. In the $Pr \to 0$ limit, density variations away from a constant stable density gradient become vanish…
This paper concerns the stability of Kolmogorov flow u = (0, sin x) in the infinite (x,y)-plane. A mean magnetic field of strength B0 is introduced and the MHD linear stability problem studied for modes with wave-number k in the y-direction, and Bloch wavenumber l in the x-direction. The parameters governing the problem are Reynolds number 1/nu, magnetic Prandtl number P, and dimensionless magnetic field strength B0. The mean magnetic field can be taken to have an arbitrary direction in the (x,y)-plane and a mean x-directed flow U0 can be incorporated. First the paper considers Kolmogorov flow…
Direct numerical simulations of Taylor-Couette flow (TC). Shear Reynolds numbers of up to $3\cdot10^5$, corresponding to Taylor numbers of $Ta=4.6\cdot10^{10}$, were reached. Effective scaling laws for the torque are presented. The transition to the ultimate regime, in which asymptotic scaling laws (with logarithmic corrections) for the torque are expected to hold up to arbitrarily high driving, is analysed for different radius ratios $η$, different aspect ratios $Γ$ and different rotation ratios $Ro$. It is shown that the transition is approximately independent of $Ro$ and $Γ$, but depends si…
Despite observational evidence for cold neutral astrophysical accretion disks, the viscous process which may drive the accretion in such systems is not yet understood. While molecular viscosity is too small to explain the observed accretion efficiencies by more than ten orders of magnitude, the absence of any linear instability in Keplerian accretion flows is often used to rule out the possibility of turbulent viscosity. Recently, the fact that some fine tuned disturbances of any inviscid shear flow can reach arbitrarily large transient growth has been proposed as an alternative route to turbu…
