DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2009.TurbulHeatMassTransf
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-262-1
ISSN: 2377-2816
A stochastic process to predict pair dispersion of inertial particles and cluster formation in isotropic turbulence
SINOPSIS
This paper deals with the phenomenon of preferential concentration of inertial particles in turbulent flows. A stochastic process is proposed in order to predict such accumulation effects using a Monte-Carlo method, in restricting ourselves to the case of heavy particles in isotropic gas turbulence. The analysis is based on the assumption that the fluid velocity difference between the locations of two inertial particles obeys a Langevin-type stochastic differential equation, the drift and diffusion terms of which are determined in accordance with some consistency requirements. The predicted behaviour of the radial distribution function in terms of both particle separation and inertia (Stokes number) is shown to be in satisfactory agreement with available theoretical results as well as DNS data.