Influence of rheological parameters in all drag reduction regimes of turbulent channel flow with polymer additives

The influence of rheological parameters on vortex dynamics and the extent of drag reduction (DR) were deciphered via extensively analyzing the hi-fidelity direct numerical simulation results of the turbulent channel flow with polymer solutions. It has been observed that in all drag reduction regimes from the onset of DR to maximum drag reduction (MDR) limit, the Deborah number is defined as the product of an effective Weissenberg number, and the root mean square streamwise vorticity fluctuation remains O(1) in the near wall region. The ratio of the average lifetime of axial vortices to the vortex rotating duration decreases with increasing DR, and MDR is achieved when these time scales become nearly equal. Based on these observations a simple framework is proposed adequately to describe the influence of polymer additives on the extent of DR from onset to MDR as well as the universality of the MDR in flow systems with polymer additives.

<Abstract>The influence of rheological parameters on vortex dynamics and the extent of drag reduction(DR) were deciphered via extensively analyzing the hi-fidelity direct numerical simulation results of the turbulent channel flow with polymer solutions.It has been observed that in all drag reduction regimes from the onset of DR to maximum drag reduction(MDR) limit,the Deborah number is defined as the product of an effective Weissenberg number,and the root mean square streamwise vorticity fluctuation remains O(1) in the near wall region.The ratio of the average lifetime of axial vortices to the vortex rotating duration decreases with increasing DR,and MDR is achieved when these time scales become nearly equal.Based on these observations a simple framework is proposed adequately to describe the influence of polymer additives on the extent of DR from onset to MDR as well as the universality of the MDR in flow systems with polymer additives.