Inertial floaters in stratified turbulence

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to analyze how inertial particles with densities close to the fluid's average density behave in stratified turbulence, revealing layer formation and fractal clustering.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the dynamics and spatial distribution of inertial floaters in stratified turbulence through extensive numerical analysis.

Findings

Particles form thin layers around isopycnals due to buoyancy and inertia balance.

Within these layers, particles exhibit fractal clustering.

Layer thickness depends on system parameters.

Abstract

We investigate numerically the dynamics and statistics of inertial particles transported by stratified turbulence, in the case of particle density intermediate in the average density profile of the fluid. In these conditions, particles tend to form a thin layer around the corresponding fluid isopycnal. The thickness of the resulting layer is determined by a balance between buoyancy (which attracts the particle to the isopycnal) and inertia (which prevents them from following it exactly). By means of extensive numerical simulations, we explore the parameter space of the system and we find that in a range of parameters particles form fractal cluster within the layer.