Intermittency suppression in turbulence via forced light particles

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that externally forced light particles can significantly reduce turbulence intermittency by locally modulating flow structures, revealing new insights into vortex dynamics and turbulence control.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of using forced light particles to suppress turbulence intermittency, supported by high-resolution numerical simulations.

Findings

Forced light particles reduce flow intermittency.

Particles concentrate in high vorticity regions.

Turbulence modulation is intricately linked to vortex structures.

Abstract

We investigate how turbulence is reshaped by the presence of externally forced light particles, using high-resolution direct numerical simulations with four-way coupling. The particles are subject to an oscillatory force that in turn locally affects the fluid flow through momentum exchange at the position of the particles. Since the light particles preferentially concentrate in high vorticity regions, this leads to an intricate preferential turbulence modulation. We show that through this modulation, the forced light particles strongly reduce the intermittency of the flow, shedding new light on the delicate relationship between vortex filaments and turbulence intermittency.