Elastic turbulence in a shell model of polymer solution

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that shell models of viscoelastic fluids exhibit chaotic elastic turbulence at low inertia and high elasticity, independent of boundary conditions or flow geometry.

Contribution

It introduces a shell model approach to study elastic turbulence, revealing the underlying physical mechanisms are geometry-independent.

Findings

Chaotic behaviour similar to elastic turbulence observed in shell models

Elastic turbulence occurs at low inertia and high elasticity levels

Physical mechanisms are independent of boundary conditions and flow geometry

Abstract

We show that, at low inertia and large elasticity, shell models of viscoelastic fluids develop a chaotic behaviour with properties similar to those of elastic turbulence. The low dimensionality of shell models allows us to explore a wide range both in polymer concentration and in Weissenberg number. Our results demonstrate that the physical mechanisms at the origin of elastic turbulence do not rely on the boundary conditions or on the geometry of the mean flow.