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Multiparticle dispersion in rotating-stratified turbulent flows

Sebastian Gallon1, Fabio Feraco2,3, Raffaele Marino2, and Alain Pumir1,4,*

  • *Contact author: alain.pumir@ens-lyon.fr; alain.pumir@ds.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, 034605 – Published 17 March, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.10.034605

Abstract

The transport of matter by turbulent flows plays an important role, in particular in a geophysical context. Here, we study the relative movement of groups of two (pairs) and four (tetrahedra) Lagrangian particles using direct numerical simulations of the stably stratified Boussinsesq equations, with Brunt-Väisälä frequency N and Coriolis parameter f. We cover regimes close to homogeneous isotropic turbulence, to flows dominated by stratification and rotation, keeping fixed the ratio N/f=5. The flows studied are anisotropic, so the relative motion between two particles depends not only on the initial separation between the particles, but also on their orientation with respect to the vertical axis. In all cases considered, we demonstrate that the relative particle motion differs depending on whether dispersion is considered forward or backward in time, although the asymmetry becomes less pronounced when stratification and rotation increase. On the other hand, the strong fluctuations in the dispersion between two particles become more extreme when N and f increase. We also find evidence for the formation of shear layers, which become more pronounced as N and f become larger. Finally, we show that the irreversibility on the dispersion of a set of particles initially forming a regular tetrahedron becomes weaker when the influence of stratification and rotation increases, a property that we relate to that of the perceived rate-of-strain tensor.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, 034605– Published 17 March, 2025
  • Received 16 October 2024
  • Accepted 7 February 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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