Clustering dynamics of Lagrangian tracers in free-surface flows

Abstract

We study the formation of clusters of passive Lagrangian tracers in a non-smooth turbulent flow in a flat free-slip surface as a model for particle dynamics on free surfaces. Single particle and pair dispersion show different behavior for short and large times: on short times particles cluster exponentially rapidly until patches of the size of the divergence correlation length are depleted; on larger times the pair dispersion is dominated by almost ballistic hopping between clusters. We also find that the distribution of particle density is close to algebraic and can trace this back to the exponential distribution of the divergence field of the surface flow.

5 pages, 5 Postscript figures

References in corpus (4)

• Particles and fields in fluid turbulence
• Measurement of Lagrangian velocity in fully developed turbulence
• Pair dispersion in turbulence
• Turbulence and passive scalar transport in a free-slip surface

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Lagrangian tracers on a surface flow: the role of time correlations
• Coagulation by Random Velocity Fields as a Kramers Problem
• The Mixing and Transport Properties of the Intra Cluster Medium: a numerical study using tracers particles
• Dispersion of tracer particles in a compressible flow
• Inertial particles driven by a telegraph noise
• Clustering of floating tracers in weakly divergent velocity fields
• Small-scale dynamics and structure of free-surface turbulence
• Weak-strong clustering transition in renewing compressible flows
• Surface waves enhance particle dispersion