Lagrangian Measurements of Inertial Particle Accelerations in Grid Generated Wind Tunnel Turbulence

S. Ayyalasomayajula, A. Gylfason, L. R. Collins, E. Bodenschatz, and Z. Warhaft
Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 144507 – Published 5 October 2006

Abstract

We describe Lagrangian measurements of water droplets in grid generated wind tunnel turbulence at a Taylor Reynolds number of Rλ=250 and an average Stokes number (St) of approximately 0.1. The inertial particles are tracked by a high speed camera moving along the side of the tunnel at the mean flow speed. The standardized acceleration probability density functions of the particles have spread exponential tails that are narrower than those of a fluid particles (St0) and there is a decrease in the acceleration variance with increasing Stokes number. A simple vortex model shows that the inertial particles selectively sample the fluid field and are less likely to experience regions of the fluid undergoing the largest accelerations. Recent direct numerical simulations compare favorably with these first measurements of Lagrangian statistics of inertial particles in highly turbulent flows.

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  • Received 7 February 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.144507

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

S. Ayyalasomayajula, A. Gylfason*, L. R. Collins, E. Bodenschatz, and Z. Warhaft

  • Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

  • *Present address: School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland.
  • Present address: Max Plank Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
  • Electronic address: zw16@cornell.edu

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Issue

Vol. 97, Iss. 14 — 6 October 2006

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