Related papers: Beyond the maximum drag reduction asymptote: the p…
The drag of turbulent flows can be drastically decreased by addition of small amounts of high molecular weight polymers. While drag reduction initially increases with polymer concentration, it eventually saturates to what is known as the…
Polymer-induced drag reduction is bounded by an asymptotic limit of maximum drag reduction (MDR). For decades, researchers have presumed that MDR reflects the convergence to an ultimate flow state that is not further changed by polymers.…
Polymer additives can substantially reduce the drag of turbulent flows and the upper limit, the so called "maximum drag reduction" (MDR) asymptote is universal, i.e. independent of the type of polymer and solvent used. Until recently, the…
The upper bound of polymer drag reduction is identified as a unique transitional state between laminar and turbulent flow corresponding to the onset of the nonlinear breakdown of flow instabilities.
Turbulent channel flow of drag-reducing polymer solutions is simulated in minimal flow geometries. Even in the Newtonian limit, we find intervals of "hibernating" turbulence that display many features of the universal maximum drag reduction…
We address the mechanism of drag reduction by polymers in turbulent wall bounded flows. On the basis of the equations of fluid mechanics we present a quantitative derivation of the "maximum drag reduction (MDR) asymptote" which is the…
The flow of fluids in channels, pipes or ducts, as in any other wall-bounded flow (like water along the hulls of ships or air on airplanes) is hindered by a drag, which increases many-folds when the fluid flow turns from laminar to…
The influence of an external flow on the relaxation dynamics of a single polymer is investigated theoretically and numerically. We show that a pronounced dynamical slowdown occurs in the vicinity of the coil-stretch transition, especially…
A simple model of the effect of polymer concentration on the amount of drag reduction in turbulence is presented, simulated and analyzed. The qualitative phase diagram of drag coefficient vs. Reynolds number (Re) is recaptured in this…
Drag reduction by polymers is bounded between two universal asymptotes, the von-K\'arm\'an log-law of the law and the Maximum Drag Reduction (MDR) asymptote. It is theoretically understood why the MDR asymptote is universal, independent of…
We present an experimental study on the drag reduction by polymers in Taylor-Couette turbulence at Reynolds numbers ($Re$) ranging from $4\times 10^3$ to $2.5\times 10^4$. In this $Re$ regime, the Taylor vortex is present and accounts for…
Polymer transport is investigated for two paradigmatic laminar flows having open and closed streamlines, respectively. For both types of flows we find transport depletion owing to the action of the polymers elastic degree of freedom. For…
We address the "Additive Equivalence" discovered by Virk and coworkers: drag reduction affected by flexible and rigid rodlike polymers added to turbulent wall-bounded flows is limited from above by a very similar Maximum Drag Reduction…
The existence of drag reduction by polymer additives, well established for wall-bounded turbulent flows, is controversial in homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. To settle this controversy we carry out a high-resolution direct numerical…
Elasto-inertial turbulence is a new state of turbulence found in flows with polymer additives . The dynamics of turbulence generated and controlled by such additives is investigated from the perspective of the coupling between polymer…
Provided a sufficient concentration of long-chain polymers in a Newtonian solvent, turbulent wall-bounded flows exhibit a universal state known as Maximum Drag Reduction (MDR). Through direct numerical simulations, we show that the…
We study the dynamics of flexible, semiflexible, and self-avoiding polymer chains moving under a Kramers metastable potential. Due to thermal noise, the polymers, initially placed in the metastable well, can cross the potential barrier, but…
We investigate high-Reynolds number turbulence in dilute polymer solutions. We show the existence of a critical value of the Reynolds number which separates two different regimes. In the first regime, below the transition, the influence of…
Early turbulence in periodic cylinder arrays is of particular interest in many practical applications to enhance mixing and material/heat exchange. In this study, we reveal a new early transition pathway to a chaotic wavy state and drag…
The current theories on the mechanism for polymer drag-reduction (DR) are generally applicable for long-chain flexible polymers that form viscoelastic solutions. Rigid polymer solutions that generate DR seemingly lack prevalent viscoelastic…