Abstract.
We study the mixing of a passive scalar field dispersed in a solution of rodlike polymers in two dimensions, by means of numerical simulations of a rheological model for the polymer solution. The flow is driven by a parallel sinusoidal force (Kolmogorov flow). Although the Reynolds number is lower than the critical value for inertial instabilities, the rotational dynamics of the polymers generates a chaotic flow similar to the so-called elastic-turbulence regime observed in extensible polymer solutions. The temporal decay of the variance of the scalar field and its gradients shows that this chaotic flow strongly enhances mixing.
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Musacchio, S., Cencini, M., Plan, E.L.C.V.M. et al. Enhancement of mixing by rodlike polymers. Eur. Phys. J. E 41, 84 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2018-11692-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2018-11692-9