The merger of co-rotating vortices in dusty flows

TL;DR

This study explores how particle inertia influences the merger of co-rotating dusty vortices, revealing that moderate inertia can cause vortices to repel each other, altering the merger process significantly compared to particle-free flows.

Contribution

It introduces Eulerian-Lagrangian simulations to analyze dusty vortex mergers, highlighting the impact of particle inertia on vortex dynamics and merger stages, which was not previously understood.

Findings

Moderate inertia particles cause vortices to push apart, doubling initial separation.

Drag forces from particles ejecting from vortex cores create a net repulsive force.

Highly inertial particles can split vortex cores, leading to staged mergers.

Abstract

We investigate the effect of particle inertia on the merger of co-rotating dusty vortex pairs at semi-dilute concentrations. In a particle-free flow, the merger is triggered once the ratio of vortex core size to vortex separation reaches a critical value. The vortex pair separation then decreases monotonically until the two cores merge together. Using Eulerian-Lagrangian simulations of co-rotating particle-laden vortices, we show substantial departure from the vortex dynamics previously established in particle-free flows. Most strikingly, we find that disperse particles with moderate inertia cause the vortex pair to push apart to a separation nearly twice as large as the initial separation. During this stage, the drag force exerted by particles ejected out of the vortex cores on the fluid results in a net repulsive force that pushes the two cores apart. Eventually, the two dusty vortices merge into a single vortex with most particles accumulating outside the core similar to the dusty Lamb-Oseen vortex described in Shuai & Kasbaoui (J. Fluid Mech., vol 936, 2022, A8) For weakly inertial particles, we find that the merger dynamics follow the same mechanics as those of a single-phase flow, albeit with a density that must be adjusted to match the mixture density. For highly inertial particles, the feedback force exerted by the particles on the fluid may stretch the two cores during the merger to a point where each core splits into two, resulting in inner and outer vortex pairs. In this case, the merger occurs in two stages where the inner vortices merge first, followed by the outer ones.