Droplets in homogeneous shear turbulence

Abstract

We simulate the flow of two immiscible and incompressible fluids separated by an interface in a homogeneous turbulent shear flow at a shear Reynolds number equal to 15 200. The viscosity and density of the two fluids are equal, and various surface tensions and initial droplet diameters are considered in the present study. We show that the two-phase flow reaches a statistically stationary turbulent state sustained by a non-zero mean turbulent production rate due to the presence of the mean shear. Compared to single-phase flow, we find that the resulting steady-state conditions exhibit reduced Taylor-microscale Reynolds numbers owing to the presence of the dispersed phase, which acts as a sink of turbulent kinetic energy for the carrier fluid. At steady state, the mean power of surface tension is zero and the turbulent production rate is in balance with the turbulent dissipation rate, with their values being larger than in the reference single-phase case. The interface modifies the energy spectrum by introducing energy at small scales, with the difference from the single-phase case reducing as the Weber number increases. This is caused by both the number of droplets in the domain and the total surface area increasing monotonically with the Weber number. This reflects also in the droplet size distribution, which changes with the Weber number, with the peak of the distribution moving to smaller sizes as the Weber number increases. We show that the Hinze estimate for the maximum droplet size, obtained considering break-up in homogeneous isotropic turbulence, provides an excellent estimate notwithstanding the action of significant coalescence and the presence of a mean shear.