571 research outputs found
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
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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 (). Following the trajectories of up
to 120 million particles with Stokes numbers, , 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
sharply falls off from the fluid tracer value already at quite
small Stokes numbers; ({\it ii}) At a given the normalised acceleration
increases with consistently
with the trend observed for fluid tracers; ({\it iii}) The tails of the
probability density function of the normalised acceleration
decrease with . Two concurrent mechanisms lead to the above results:
preferential concentration of particles, very effective at small , and
filtering induced by the particle response time, that takes over at larger
.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, . Numerical simulations are performed at
different resolutions up to . We show that at varying the spectrum slope
, 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 . When the
statistics is forcing dominated, for , we find dimensional scaling, i.e.
intermittency is vanishingly small. On the other hand, for , 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
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