Interaction of a Vortex Pair with a Polymeric Fluid Layer

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations to explore how vortices interact with a finite layer of polymeric fluid, revealing that polymers can both dissipate vortices and generate new structures, unlike in Newtonian fluids.

Contribution

It demonstrates the complex effects of polymer concentration and properties on vortex dynamics, showing that polymers can induce vortex dissipation and formation of secondary structures.

Findings

Polymeric fluids dissipate vortical motion but can generate new vortices.

Vortex interactions with polymers can cause transient energy increases.

Under certain conditions, vortices completely dissipate upon interacting with the polymer layer.

Abstract

The interaction of vortical structures with boundaries has been extensively studied in Newtonian fluids, where conditions such as no slip walls, free surfaces, or contaminated surfaces dictate whether vortices rebound, dissipate, or generate secondary structures. In this work, we investigate a related but fundamentally different problem: the interaction of a vortex pair with a finite, non uniform layer of polymeric fluid. Numerical simulations employing the finitely extensible nonlinear elastic Peterlin model are used to examine the effects of polymer concentration, relaxation time, polymer layer thickness, and maximum polymer extension on the evolution of kinetic energy and enstrophy. The results show that, while the polymeric fluid dissipates vortical motion, vortex polymer layer interactions can also generate new coherent structures. In particular, the formation of secondary and tertiary vortices coincides with transient increases in kinetic energy, a behavior absent in the Newtonian case. Unlike classical vortex boundary interactions, where the primary vortex survives, we find that under certain conditions it completely dissipates upon interaction with the polymer layer. These findings emphasize that fluids with non-uniform polymer concentrations, act not only as dissipative agents but also as sources of vorticity, extending the traditional view of polymer induced drag reduction and providing new insight into vortex polymer interactions.