Effect of Domain Size on Fluid–Particle Statistics in Homogeneous, Gravity-Driven, Cluster-Induced Turbulence

Abstract

Scaling of volume fraction and velocity fluctuations with domain size is investigated for high-mass-loading suspensions of finite-size inertial particles subject to gravity. Results from highly resolved Euler–Lagrange simulations are evaluated via an adaptive spatial filter with an averaging volume that varies with the local particle concentration. This filter enables the instantaneous particle velocity to be decomposed into a spatially correlated contribution used in defining the particle-phase turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), and a spatially uncorrelated contribution used in defining the granular temperature. The total granular energy is found to grow nearly linearly with the domain size, while the balance between the separate contributions remains approximately constant.