Direct numerical simulations of statistically steady, homogeneous, isotropic fluid turbulence with polymer additives

TL;DR

This study uses direct numerical simulations to investigate how polymer additives influence steady, homogeneous, isotropic turbulence, revealing dissipation reduction, spectrum modification, and suppression of small-scale structures.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of polymers on steady turbulence through detailed DNS, extending previous work on decaying turbulence.

Findings

Reduction in energy dissipation rate with polymers

Modification of energy spectrum in dissipation range

Suppression of small-scale vorticity filaments

Abstract

We carry out a direct numerical simulation (DNS) study that reveals the effects of polymers on statistically steady, forced, homogeneous, isotropic fluid turbulence. We find clear manifestations of dissipation-reduction phenomena: On the addition of polymers to the turbulent fluid, we obtain a reduction in the energy dissipation rate, a significant modification of the fluid energy spectrum, especially in the deep-dissipation range, a suppression of small-scale intermittency, and a decrease in small-scale vorticity filaments. We also compare our results with recent experiments and earlier DNS studies of decaying fluid turbulence with polymer additives.