Noncohesive particle clusters are identified and tracked in turbulent flows to determine the breakdown and time evolution of cluster statistics and their implications for interscale mass transfer,which has connections...Noncohesive particle clusters are identified and tracked in turbulent flows to determine the breakdown and time evolution of cluster statistics and their implications for interscale mass transfer,which has connections to the classical turbulent energy cascade and its mass cascade counterpart running in parallel.In particular,the formation and dynamics of sediment and larvae clusters are of interest to coral larvae settlement in coastal regions and particularly the resilience of green-gray coastal protection solutions.Analogous cluster behavior is relevant to cloud microphysics and precipitation initiation,radiation transport and light transmission through colloids and suspensions,heat and mass transfer in particle-laden flows,and viral and pollutant transmission.Following a comparison between various clustering techniques,we adopt a density-based cluster identification algorithm based on its simplicity and efficiency,where particles are clustered based on the number of neighboring particles in their individual spheres of influence.We establish parallels with lattice-based percolation theory,as evident in the power-law scaling of the cluster size distribution near the percolation threshold.The degree of discontinuity of the phase transition associated with this percolation threshold is observed to broaden with larger Stokes numbers and thereby large-scale clustering.The sensitivity of our findings to the employed clustering algorithm is discussed.A novel cluster tracking algorithm is deployed to determine the interscale transfer rate along the particle-number phase-space dimension via accounting of cluster breakup and merger events,extending previous work on the bubble breakup cascade beneath surface breaking waves.Our findings shed light on the interaction between particle clusters and their carrier turbulent flows,with an eye toward transport models incorporating cluster characteristics and dynamics.展开更多
文摘Noncohesive particle clusters are identified and tracked in turbulent flows to determine the breakdown and time evolution of cluster statistics and their implications for interscale mass transfer,which has connections to the classical turbulent energy cascade and its mass cascade counterpart running in parallel.In particular,the formation and dynamics of sediment and larvae clusters are of interest to coral larvae settlement in coastal regions and particularly the resilience of green-gray coastal protection solutions.Analogous cluster behavior is relevant to cloud microphysics and precipitation initiation,radiation transport and light transmission through colloids and suspensions,heat and mass transfer in particle-laden flows,and viral and pollutant transmission.Following a comparison between various clustering techniques,we adopt a density-based cluster identification algorithm based on its simplicity and efficiency,where particles are clustered based on the number of neighboring particles in their individual spheres of influence.We establish parallels with lattice-based percolation theory,as evident in the power-law scaling of the cluster size distribution near the percolation threshold.The degree of discontinuity of the phase transition associated with this percolation threshold is observed to broaden with larger Stokes numbers and thereby large-scale clustering.The sensitivity of our findings to the employed clustering algorithm is discussed.A novel cluster tracking algorithm is deployed to determine the interscale transfer rate along the particle-number phase-space dimension via accounting of cluster breakup and merger events,extending previous work on the bubble breakup cascade beneath surface breaking waves.Our findings shed light on the interaction between particle clusters and their carrier turbulent flows,with an eye toward transport models incorporating cluster characteristics and dynamics.
