Elastic pseudoturbulence induced by low-Galilei settling spheres

Abstract

In this Letter, we show how a suspension of light solid spheres settling through a polymer solution results in a chaotic and highly-intermittent state. By leveraging particle-resolved direct numerical simulations, we investigate the effect of increasing polymer relaxation time and Deborah number $De$ on viscoelastic sedimentation at a low density ratio ${\rho }_s/{\rho }_f=5$ and a low Galilei number $Ga=3.16$. Even at moderate $De$, the spheres form gravity-aligned clusters and settle faster, while the polymer stresses energize the large scales of motion. The onset of elastic turbulence and intermittency is signaled by a $-4$ spectral scaling in the high-wavenumber range and by nonlinear high-order exponents of the velocity structure functions. These results indicate that viscoelastic effects induce pseudoturbulence in the presence of viscous-dominated sedimentation.

arXiv comment6 pages, 5 figures (manuscript) + 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables (supplemental material). Under consideration for publication in Physical Review Letters