Elliptical tracers in two-dimensional, homogeneous, isotropic fluid turbulence: The statistics of alignment, rotation, and nematic order

Gupta, Anupam and Vincenzi, Dario and Pandit, Rahul (2014) Elliptical tracers in two-dimensional, homogeneous, isotropic fluid turbulence: The statistics of alignment, rotation, and nematic order. In: PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 89 (2).

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Abstract

We study the statistical properties of orientation and rotation dynamics of elliptical tracer particles in two-dimensional, homogeneous, and isotropic turbulence by direct numerical simulations. We consider both the cases in which the turbulent flow is generated by forcing at large and intermediate length scales. We show that the two cases are qualitatively different. For large-scale forcing, the spatial distribution of particle orientations forms large-scale structures, which are absent for intermediate-scale forcing. The alignment with the local directions of the flow is much weaker in the latter case than in the former. For intermediate-scale forcing, the statistics of rotation rates depends weakly on the Reynolds number and on the aspect ratio of particles. In contrast with what is observed in three-dimensional turbulence, in two dimensions the mean-square rotation rate increases as the aspect ratio increases.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	PHYSICAL REVIEW E
Publisher:	AMER PHYSICAL SOC
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to the AMER PHYSICAL SOC, USA
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	15 Apr 2014 11:59
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2014 11:59
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/48860

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