The effect of shear-thinning on the scalings and small-scale structures of turbulence

TL;DR

This paper investigates how shear-thinning viscosity influences turbulence, demonstrating that classical Kolmogorov scaling persists at inertial scales but small-scale turbulence exhibits increased intermittency due to variable viscosity effects.

Contribution

It extends Kolmogorov theory to shear-thinning fluids by incorporating variable viscosity effects into turbulence scaling laws.

Findings

Kolmogorov $k^{-5/3}$ spectrum is preserved in shear-thinning turbulence

Proper averaging allows classical phenomenology to hold despite variable viscosity

Small scales show enhanced intermittency due to viscosity variations

Abstract

We study the homogeneous isotropic turbulence of a shear-thinning fluid modeled by the Carreau model and show how the variable viscosity affects the multiscale behaviour of the turbulent flow. We show that Kolmogorov theory can be extended to such non-Newotnian fluids, provided that the correct choice of average is taken when defining the mean Kolmogorov scale and dissipation rate, to properly capture the effect of the variable viscosity. Thus, the classical phenomenology a la Kolmogorov can be observed in the inertial range of scale, with the energy spectra decaying as $k^{-5/3}$ and the third order structure function obeying the $4/5$ law. The changing viscosity instead strongly alters the small scale of turbulence, leading to an enhanced intermittent behavior of the velocity field.