Universal flapping states of elastic fibers in modulated turbulence

TL;DR

This study reveals that elastic fibers in turbulent flows exhibit only two universal dynamical states, regardless of concentration or properties, simplifying the understanding of fluid-structure interactions in turbulence.

Contribution

It identifies universal flapping states of elastic fibers in turbulence and demonstrates their applicability across various conditions and elastic objects.

Findings

Fibers exhibit two main dynamical states: natural response or synchronized motion.

The states are consistent across dilute and dense suspensions.

Backreaction effects can be modeled by suspension mass fraction.

Abstract

We study the fully-coupled dynamics between a fully-developed turbulent flow and an ensemble of immersed flexible fibers. We vary the concentration of the suspension, the mechanical properties and the length of the fibers in a vast parametric range. For all configurations, the fiber dynamics falls in only two possible dynamical states: (i) the fiber manifests its natural response to the flow forcing or (ii) its motion fully synchronizes to the hydrodynamic timescales of the turbulent flow. This scenario holds for both a dilute condition, where the carrier flow is not affected by the fluid-structure interaction, as well as in the case where the flow is substantially altered by the presence of the immersed objects. Such backreaction effect can be macroscopically modelled in terms of the mass fraction of the suspension. Our results can be readily extended to any elastic objects interacting with fluid turbulence.