About coherent structures in random shell models for passive scalar advection

A study of anomalous scaling in models of passive scalar advection in terms of singular coherent structures is proposed. The stochastic dynamical system considered is a shell model reformulation of Kraichnan model. We extend the method introduced in \cite{DDG99} to the calculation of self-similar instantons and we show how such objects, being the most singular events, are appropriate to capture asymptotic scaling properties of the scalar field. Preliminary results concerning the statistical weight of fluctuations around these optimal configurations are also presented.Comment: 4 pages, 2 postscript figures, submitted to PR

The decay of homogeneous anisotropic turbulence

We present the results of a numerical investigation of three-dimensional decaying turbulence with statistically homogeneous and anisotropic initial conditions. We show that at large times, in the inertial range of scales: (i) isotropic velocity fluctuations decay self-similarly at an algebraic rate which can be obtained by dimensional arguments; (ii) the ratio of anisotropic to isotropic fluctuations of a given intensity falls off in time as a power law, with an exponent approximately independent of the strength of the fluctuation; (iii) the decay of anisotropic fluctuations is not self-similar, their statistics becoming more and more intermittent as time elapses. We also investigate the early stages of the decay. The different short-time behavior observed in two experiments differing by the phase organization of their initial conditions gives a new hunch on the degree of universality of small-scale turbulence statistics, i.e. its independence of the conditions at large scales.Comment: 9 pages, 17 figure

Anomalous and dimensional scaling in anisotropic turbulence

We present a numerical study of anisotropic statistical fluctuations in homogeneous turbulent flows. We give an argument to predict the dimensional scaling exponents, (p+j)/3, for the projections of p-th order structure function in the j-th sector of the rotational group. We show that measured exponents are anomalous, showing a clear deviation from the dimensional prediction. Dimensional scaling is subleading and it is recovered only after a random reshuffling of all velocity phases, in the stationary ensemble. This supports the idea that anomalous scaling is the result of a genuine inertial evolution, independent of large-scale behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Lagrangian Structure Functions in Turbulence: A Quantitative Comparison between Experiment and Direct Numerical Simulation

A detailed comparison between data from experimental measurements and numerical simulations of Lagrangian velocity structure functions in turbulence is presented. By integrating information from experiments and numerics, a quantitative understanding of the velocity scaling properties over a wide range of time scales and Reynolds numbers is achieved. The local scaling properties of the Lagrangian velocity increments for the experimental and numerical data are in good quantitative agreement for all time lags. The degree of intermittency changes when measured close to the Kolmogorov time scales or at larger time lags. This study resolves apparent disagreements between experiment and numerics.Comment: 13 RevTeX pages (2 columns) + 8 figures include

Microconfined flow behavior of red blood cells by image analysis techniques

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.Red blood cells (RBCs) perform essential functions in human body, such as gas exchange between blood and tissues, thanks to their ability to deform and flow in the microvascular network. The high RBC deformability is mainly due to the viscoelastic properties of the cell membrane. Since an impaired RBC deformability could be found in some diseases, such as malaria, sickle cell anemia, diabetes and hereditary disorders, there is the need to provide further insight into measurement of RBC deformability in a physiologically-relevant flow field. Here, we report on an imaging-based in vitro systematic microfluidic investigation of RBCs flowing either in microcapillaries or in a microcirculation-mimicking device containing a network of microchannels of diameter comparable to cell size. RBC membrane shear elastic modulus and surface viscosity have been investigated by using diverging channels, while RBC time recovery constant have been measured in start-up experiments. Moreover, RBC volume and surface area have been measured in microcapillary flow. The comprehension of the single cell behavior led to the analysis of the RBC flow-induced clustering. Overall, our results provide a novel technique to estimate RBC deformability, that can be used for the analysis of pathological RBCs, for which reliable quantitative methods are still lacking

Lyapunov exponents of heavy particles in turbulence

Lyapunov exponents of heavy particles and tracers advected by homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flows are investigated by means of direct numerical simulations. For large values of the Stokes number, the main effect of inertia is to reduce the chaoticity with respect to fluid tracers. Conversely, for small inertia, a counter-intuitive increase of the first Lyapunov exponent is observed. The flow intermittency is found to induce a Reynolds number dependency for the statistics of the finite time Lyapunov exponents of tracers. Such intermittency effects are found to persist at increasing inertia.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Fronts in passive scalar turbulence

The evolution of scalar fields transported by turbulent flow is characterized by the presence of fronts, which rule the small-scale statistics of scalar fluctuations. With the aid of numerical simulations, it is shown that: isotropy is not recovered, in the classical sense, at small scales; scaling exponents are universal with respect to the scalar injection mechanisms; high-order exponents saturate to a constant value; non-mature fronts dominate the statistics of intense fluctuations. Results on the statistics inside the plateaux, where fluctuations are weak, are also presented. Finally, we analyze the statistics of scalar dissipation and scalar fluxes.Comment: 18 pages, 27 figure

Acceleration statistics of heavy particles in turbulence

We present the results of direct numerical simulations of heavy particle transport in homogeneous, isotropic, fully developed turbulence, up to resolution $512^3$ ($R_\lambda\approx 185$). Following the trajectories of up to 120 million particles with Stokes numbers, $St$, in the range from 0.16 to 3.5 we are able to characterize in full detail the statistics of particle acceleration. We show that: ({\it i}) The root-mean-squared acceleration $a_{\rm rms}$ sharply falls off from the fluid tracer value already at quite small Stokes numbers; ({\it ii}) At a given $St$ the normalised acceleration $a_{\rm rms}/(\epsilon^3/\nu)^{1/4}$ increases with $R_\lambda$ consistently with the trend observed for fluid tracers; ({\it iii}) The tails of the probability density function of the normalised acceleration $a/a_{\rm rms}$ decrease with $St$. Two concurrent mechanisms lead to the above results: preferential concentration of particles, very effective at small $St$, and filtering induced by the particle response time, that takes over at larger $St$.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figs, 2 tables. A section with new results has been added. Revised version accepted for pubblication on Journal of Fluid Mechanic

Effects of forcing in three dimensional turbulent flows

We present the results of a numerical investigation of three-dimensional homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, stirred by a random forcing with a power law spectrum, $E_f(k)\sim k^{3-y}$. Numerical simulations are performed at different resolutions up to $512^3$. We show that at varying the spectrum slope $y$, small-scale turbulent fluctuations change from a {\it forcing independent} to a {\it forcing dominated} statistics. We argue that the critical value separating the two behaviours, in three dimensions, is $y_c=4$. When the statistics is forcing dominated, for $y<y_c$, we find dimensional scaling, i.e. intermittency is vanishingly small. On the other hand, for $y>y_c$, we find the same anomalous scaling measured in flows forced only at large scales. We connect these results with the issue of {\it universality} in turbulent flows.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure