Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qs9v7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T05:34:27.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Linear and nonlinear evolution of a localized disturbance in polymeric channel flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2014

Akshat Agarwal
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Luca Brandt
Affiliation:
Linné Flow Centre, SeRC, KTH Mechanics, Stockholm, SE-100 44, Sweden
Tamer A. Zaki*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
*
Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. Email address for correspondence: t.zaki@jhu.edu

Abstract

The evolution of an initially localized disturbance in polymeric channel flow is investigated, with the FENE-P model used to characterize the viscoelastic behaviour of the flow. In the linear growth regime, the flow response is stabilized by viscoelasticity, and the maximum attainable disturbance-energy amplification is reduced with increasing polymer concentration. The reduction in the energy growth rate is attributed to the polymer work, which plays a dual role. First, a spanwise polymer-work term develops, and is explained by the tilting action of the wall-normal vorticity on the mean streamwise conformation tensor. This resistive term weakens the spanwise velocity perturbation thus reducing the energy of the localized disturbance. The second action of the polymer is analogous, with a wall-normal polymer work term that weakens the vertical velocity perturbation. Its indirect effect on energy growth is substantial since it reduces the production of Reynolds shear stress and in turn of the streamwise velocity perturbation, or streaks. During the early stages of nonlinear growth, the dominant effect of the polymer is to suppress the large-scale streaky structures which are strongly amplified in Newtonian flows. As a result, the process of transition to turbulence is prolonged and, after transition, a drag-reduced turbulent state is attained.

Type
Papers
Copyright
© 2014 Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bayly, B. J., Orszag, S. A. & Herbert, T. 1988 Instability mechanisms in shear-flow transition. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 20, 359391.Google Scholar
Breuer, K. S. & Landahl, M. T. 1990 The evolution of a localized disturbance in a laminar boundary layer. Part 2. Strong disturbances. J. Fluid Mech. 220, 595621.Google Scholar
Dallas, V., Vassilicos, J. C. & Hewitt, G. F. 2010 Strong polymer–turbulence interactions in viscoelastic turbulent channel flow. Phys. Rev. E 82, 066303.Google Scholar
De Angelis, E., Casciola, C. M. & Piva, R. 2002 DNS of wall turbulence: dilute polymers and self-sustaining mechanisms. Comput. Fluids 31 (4–7), 495507.Google Scholar
Dimitropoulos, C. D., Sureshkumar, R. & Beris, A. N. 1998 Direct numerical simulation of viscoelastic turbulent channel flow exhibiting drag reduction: effect of the variation of rheological parameters. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 79, 433468.Google Scholar
Dubief, Y., Terrapon, V. E. & Soria, J. 2013 On the mechanism of elasto-inertial turbulence. Phys. Fluids 25, 110817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubief, Y., Terrapon, V. E., White, C. M., Shaqfeh, E. S. G., Moin, P. & Lele, S. K. 2005 New answers on the interaction between polymers and vortices in turbulent flows. Flow Turbul. Combust. 74, 311329.Google Scholar
Dubief, Y., White, C. M., Terrapon, V. E., Shaqfeh, E. S. G., Moin, P. & Lele, S. K. 2004 On the coherent drag-reducing and turbulence-enhancing behaviour of polymers in wall flows. J. Fluid Mech. 514, 271280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Kareh, A. W. & Leal, L. G. 1989 Existance of solutions for all Deborah numbers for a non-Newtonian model modified to include diffusion. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 33, 257287.Google Scholar
Henningson, D. S. & Andersson, P. H. 1987 The wave structure of turbulent spots in plane Poiseuille flow. J. Fluid Mech. 178, 405421.Google Scholar
Henningson, D. S. & Kim, J. 1991 On turbulent spots in plane Poiseuille flow. J. Fluid Mech. 228, 183205.Google Scholar
Henningson, D. S., Lundbladh, A. & Johansson, A. V. 1993 A mechanism for bypass transition from localized disturbances in wall-bounded shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 250, 169207.Google Scholar
Hoda, N., Jovanovic, M. R. & Kumar, S. 2008 Energy amplification in channel flows of viscoelastic fluids. J. Fluid Mech. 601, 407424.Google Scholar
Hoda, N., Jovanovic, M. R. & Kumar, S. 2009 Frequency responses of streamwise-constant perturbations in channel flows of Oldroyd-B fluids. J. Fluid Mech. 625, 411434.Google Scholar
Jovanovic, M. R. & Kumar, S. 2011 Nonmodal amplification of stochastic disturbances in strongly elastic channel flows. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 166, 755778.Google Scholar
Landahl, M. T. 1975 Wave breakdown and turbulence. SIAM J. Appl. Maths 28, 735756.Google Scholar
Li, C.-F., Sureshkumar, R. & Khomami, B. 2006 Influence of rheological parameters on polymer induced turbulent drag reduction. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 140, 2340.Google Scholar
Min, T., Yoo, J. Y. & Choi, H. 2001 Effect of spatial discretization schemes on numerical solutions of viscoelastic fluid flows. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 100, 2747.Google Scholar
Min, T., Yoo, J. Y. & Choi, H. 2003a Maximum drag reduction in a turbulent channel flow by polymer additives. J. Fluid Mech. 492, 91100.Google Scholar
Min, T., Yoo, J. Y., Choi, H. & Joseph, D. D. 2003b Drag reduction by polymer additives in a turbulent channel flow. J. Fluid Mech. 486, 213238.Google Scholar
Orszag, S. A. 1971 Accurate solution of the Orr–Sommerfeld stability equation. J. Fluid Mech. 50, 689703.Google Scholar
Orszag, S. A. & Kells, L. C. 1980 Transition to turbulence in plane Poiseuille and plane Couette flow. J. Fluid Mech. 96, 159205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, J. & Zaki, T. A. 2014 Streak evolution in viscoelastic Couette flow. J. Fluid Mech. 742, 520551.Google Scholar
Pan, L., Morozov, A., Wagner, C. & Arratia, P. E. 2013 Nonlinear elastic instability in channel flows at low Reynolds numbers. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 174502.Google Scholar
Ray, P. K. & Zaki, T. A. 2014 Absolute instability in viscoelastic mixing layers. Phys. Fluids 26, 014103.Google Scholar
Richter, D., Iaccarino, G. & Shaqfeh, E. S. G. 2010 Simulations of three-dimensional viscoelastic flows past a circular cylinder at moderate Reynolds numbers. J. Fluid Mech. 651, 415442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samanta, D., Dubief, Y., Holzner, M., Schafer, C. & Morozov, A. N. 2013 Elasto-inertial turbulence. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 1055710562.Google Scholar
Shaqfeh, E. S. G. 1996 Purely elastic instabilities in viscometric flows. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 28, 129185.Google Scholar
Stone, P. A., Waleffe, W. & Graham, M. D. 2002 Toward a structural understanding of turbulent drag reduction: nonlinear coherent states in viscoelastic shear flows. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 208301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sureshkumar, R. & Beris, A. N. 1995 Effect of artificial stress diffusivity on the stability of numerical calculations and the flow dynamics of time-dependent viscoelastic flows. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 60, 5380.Google Scholar
Sureshkumar, R., Beris, A. N. & Handler, R. A. 1997 Direct numerical simulation of the turbulent channel flow of a polymer solution. Phys. Fluids 9, 743755.Google Scholar
Toms, B.1948 Observation on the flow of linear polymer solutions through straight tubes at large Reynolds numbers. In Proceedings of the International Rheological Congress, vol. 2 pp. 135–141.Google Scholar
Tsukahara, T., Ishigami, T., Yu, B. & Kawaguchi, Y. 2011 DNS study on viscoelastic effect in drag-reduced turbulent channel flow. J. Turbul. 12, 125.Google Scholar
Vaithianathan, T. & Collins, L. R. 2003 Numerical approach to simulating turbulent flow of a viscoelastic polymer solution. J. Comput. Phys. 187, 121.Google Scholar
Virk, P. S. & Mickley, H. S. 1970 The ultimate asymptote and mean flow structures in Tom’s phenomenon. Trans. ASME E: J. Appl. Mech. 37, 488493.Google Scholar
White, C. M. & Mungal, M. G. 2008 Mechanics and prediction of turbulent drag reduction with polymer additives. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 40, 235256.Google Scholar
Xi, L. & Graham, M. D. 2010 Turbulent drag reduction and multistage transitions in viscoelastic minimal flow units. J. Fluid Mech. 647, 421452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xi, L. & Graham, M. D. 2012 Intermittent dynamics of turbulence hibernation in Newtonian and viscoelastic minimal channel flows. J. Fluid Mech. 693, 433472.Google Scholar
Yu, B., Li, F. & Kawaguchi, Y. 2004 Numerical and experimental investigation of turbulent characteristics in a drag-reducing flow with surfactant additives. Intl J. Heat Fluid Flow 25, 961974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, M., Lashgari, I., Zaki, T. A. & Brandt, L. 2013 Linear stablity analysis of channel flow of viscoelastic Oldroyd-B and FENE-P fluids. J. Fluid Mech. 737, 249279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Q. & Akhavan, R. 2003 A comparison of FENE and FENE-P dumbbell and chain models in turbulent flow. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 109, 115155.Google Scholar