FY2022 Annual Report

Complex Fluids and Flows
Assistant Professor Marco Edoardo Rosti 

Abstract

This is the third fiscal year since the foundation of the Complex Fluids and Flows Unit. In this period, the unit has grown significantly. We welcomed Simone Tandurella, Christian Amor Rodriguez, Morie Koseki, Jean-Paul van Woense and Giulio Foggi Rota as PhD students, Arisa Yokokoji, Jiangming Wu and Mauricio Andres Rios Maciel as rotation students, Riya Agrawal, Adrian Corrochano Calcerrada and Lorenzo Piana as Research Intern. Also, Dr. Aswathy Mukundan Sajila, Dr. Rahul Kumar Singh and Dr. Alessandro Chiarini joined the unit as postdoctoral scholars, while Dr. Stefano Olivieri left the unit to join the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid as Visiting Professor, and Dr. Alessandro Monti left and joined the NATO Science and Technology Organisation as Junior Scientist.

The Unit research has mainly focused on multiphase systems in classical and non-Newtonian turbulent flows. The unit continued to work on the turbulence modulation by the presence of a dispersed phase: particle and fiber suspensions and two-liquid systems have been considered. Also, a great amount of work has focused on studying the effect of non-Newtonian fluids. Viscoelastic turbulence at high Reynolds number and elastic turbulence at low Reynolds numbers have been studied in several configurations, from triperiodic homogenous flows to jets and channels.

In this period, 13 manuscripts were published in international journals, including 1 Science Advances, 2 Scientific Reports, and 7 Journal of Fluid Mechanics, one of which as Rapids. Furthermore, the unit members were invited to give 4 invited talks and 7 seminars in international conferences and universities. Finally, 8 international guests were invited to present their works in seminars (2 of which online). 

1. Staff

  • Alessandro Monti, Postdoctoral Researcher (-2022 August)
  • Stefano Olivieri, Postdoctoral Researcher (-2022 April)
  • Giovanni Soligo, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Rahul Kumar Singh, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Aswathy M.S., Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Alessandro Chiarini, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Ianto Cannon, Graduate Student
  • Mohamed Abdelgawad, Graduate Student
  • Simone Tandurella, Graduate Student
  • Christian Amor Rodriguez, Graduate Student
  • Morie Koseki, Graduate Student
  • Jean-Paul van Woensel, Graduate Student
  • Giulio Foggi Rota, Graduate Student
  • Megumi Ikeda, Administrative Assistant

2. Collaborations

2.1 2D turbulence with walls

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Prof. Guido Boffetta (University of Torino)
    • Prof. Stefano Musacchio (University of Torino)
    • Prof. Andrea Mazzino (University of Genova)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.2 Suspensions in porous media

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Prof. Parisa Mirbod (University of Illinois at Chicago)
    • Prof. Luca Brandt (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.3 A GPU code for multiphase flows

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Marco Crialesi Esposito (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
    • Dr. Pedro Costa (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
    • Prof. Luca Brandt (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.4 Flexible fibres in turbulence

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Stefano Olivieri (OIST)
    • Dr. Andrea Mazzino (University of Genova)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.5 Canopy flows

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Alessandro Monti (OIST)
    • Dr. Mohammad Omidyeganeh (City University of London)
    • Prof. Alfredo Pinelli (City University of London)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.6 Haemorheology of red blood cells

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Prof. Naoki Takeishi (Osaka University)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.7 Immiscible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Stefano Brizzolara (ETH Zurich)
    • Prof. Markus Holzner (ETH Zurich)
    • Prof. Andrea Mazzino (University of Genova)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.8 Marangoni effect

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Giovanni Soligo (OIST)
    • Alessandro Bevilacqua (OIST)
    • Dr. Mirco Dindo (University of Perugia)
    • Prof. Paola Laurino (OIST)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.9 Hydrodynamics of clownfish

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Manon Mercader (OIST)
    • Dr. Stefano Olivieri (OIST)
    • Prof. Vincent Laudet (OIST)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.10 Flow-structure interaction of perforated plates

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Stefano Olivieri (OIST)
    • Dr. Jeffrey Cheng (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
    • Prof. Leonardo Chamorro (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.11 Rayleigh-Taylor instability

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Prof. Gustavo Gioia (OIST)
    • Prof. Pinaki Chackraborty (OIST)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.12 Influence of density and viscosity on deformation, breakage, and coalescence of bubbles in turbulence

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Prof. Alfredo Soldati (University of Udine, Technische Universität Wien)
    • Dr. Alessio Roccon (University of Udine, Technische Universität Wien)
    • Francesca Mangani (Technische Universität Wien)
    • Dr. Soligo Giovanni (OIST)

2.13 Turbulent pulsating flow

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Giulio Foggi Rota (OIST)
    • Prof. Maurizio Quadrio (Politecnico di Milano)
    • Prof. Marco Edoardo Rosti (OIST)

2.14 Polymeric Flows at Low Reynolds numbers

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Dr. Rahul K. Singh (OIST)
    • Prof. Prasad Perlekar (TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)
    • Prof. Dhrubaditya Mitra (Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.15 Inertial particle Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Simone Tandurella (OIST)
    • Prof. Stefano Musacchio (University of Turin)
    • Prof. Guido Boffetta (University of Turin)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.16 2D turbulence in non-Newtonian, planar jets

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Christian Amor Rodríguez (OIST)
    • Dr. Giovanni Soligo (OIST)
    • Prof. Andrea Mazzino (University of Genova)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.17 Structure of turbulent canopy flows

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Christian Amor Rodríguez (OIST)
    • Dr. Alessandro Monti (OIST)
    • Prof. Soledad Le Clainche (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.18 Elastic turbulence in non-Newtonian jets

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Christian Amor Rodríguez (OIST)
    • Dr. Giovanni Soligo (OIST)
    • Adrián Corrochano (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
    • Prof. Soledad Le Clainche (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.19 Transition to turbulence in rough-walled channel flow

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Jean-Paul van Woensel (OIST)
    • Prof. Pinaki Chakraborty (OIST)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.20 Spheres and fibres in turbulent flows

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Ianto Cannon (OIST)
    • Dr. Stefano Olivieri (OIST)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

2.21 Tuning the Extensional Behavior of Elastoviscoplastic Fluids

  • Type of collaboration: Joint research
  • Researchers
    • Mohamed Abdelgawad (OIST)
    • Dr. Simon Haward (OIST)
    • Prof. Amy Shen (OIST)
    • Prof. Marco E. Rosti (OIST)

3. Activities and Findings

3.1 Polymeric turbulence at large Reynolds number

We study homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flows of dilute polymer solutions at high Reynolds and Deborah numbers. We find that for small wave numbers k, the kinetic energy spectrum shows Kolmogorov-like behavior that crosses over at a larger k to a novel, elastic scaling regime, E(k) ∼ k−ξ, with ξ ≈ 2.3. We study the contribution of the polymers to the flux of kinetic energy through scales and find that it can be decomposed into two parts: one increase in effective viscous dissipation and a purely elastic contribution that dominates over the nonlinear flux in the range of k over which the elastic scaling is observed. The multiscale balance between the two fluxes determines the crossover wave number that depends nonmonotically on the Deborah number. Consistently, structure functions also show two scaling ranges, with intermittency present in both of them in equal measure.

3.2 Modulation of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence in emulsions

We study of emulsions in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence at high Reynolds number. We consider a mixture of two iso-density fluids, where fluid properties (volume fraction, viscosity ratio and large-scale Weber number) are varied with the goal of understanding their role in turbulence modulation. The analysis, performed by studying integral quantities and spectral scale-by-scale analysis, reveals that energy is transported consistently from large to small scales by the interface, and no inverse cascade is observed. Furthermore, the total surface is found to be directly proportional to the amount of energy transported, while viscosity and surface tension alter the dynamic that regulates energy transport. We also observe the −10/3 and −3/2 scaling on droplet size distributions, suggesting that the dimensional arguments that led to their derivation are verified in HIT conditions.

3.3 The effect of particle anisotropy on the modulation of turbulent flows

We investigate the modulation of turbulence caused by the presence of finite-size dispersed particles. Bluff (isotropic) spheres versus slender (anisotropic) fibres are considered to understand the influence of the shape of the objects on altering the carrier flow. While at a fixed mass fraction – but different Stokes number – both objects provide a similar bulk effect characterized by a large-scale energy depletion, a scale-by-scale analysis of the energy transfer reveals that the alteration of the whole spectrum is intrinsically different. For bluff objects, the classical energy cascade shrinks in its extension but is unaltered in the energy content and its typical features, while for slender ones we find an alternative energy flux which is essentially mediated by the fluid–solid coupling.

3.4 Canopy flows

Flexible filamentous beds interacting with a turbulent flow represent a fundamental setting for many environmental phenomena, e.g., aquatic canopies in marine current. Exploiting numerical simulations at high Reynolds number where the canopy stems are modelled individually, we provide evidence on the essential features of the honami/monami collective motion experienced by hairy surfaces over a range of different flexibilities, i.e., Cauchy number. Our findings clearly confirm that the collective motion is essentially driven by fluid flow turbulence, with the canopy having in this respect a fully-passive behavior. Instead, some features pertaining to the structural response turn out to manifest in the motion of the individual canopy elements when focusing, in particular, on the spanwise oscillation and/or on sufficiently small Cauchy numbers. Furthermore, we compare canopies with identical solidity obtained inclining the filaments in opposite angles: it is found that when the canopy is inclined, the actual flow regime differs substantially from the one of a straight canopy that shares the same solidity, indicating that criteria based solely on this parameter are not robust.

3.5 Unsteady pumping

Viscous dissipation causes significant energy losses in fluid flows; in ducts, laminar flows provide the minimum resistance to the motion, whereas turbulence substantially increases the friction at the wall and the consequent energy requirements for pumping. We proposed a simple and novel drag-reduction technique which achieves substantial energy savings in internal flows. Our approach consists in driving the flow with a temporally intermittent pumping, unlike the common practice of a constant pumping. We alternate “pump on” phases where the flow accelerates, and “pump off” phases where the flow decays freely. The flow cyclically enters a quasi-laminar state during the acceleration, and transitions to a more classic turbulent state during the deceleration. Our numerical results demonstrate that important energy savings can be achieved by simply modulating the power injection into the system over time.

3.6 Inverse energy cascade

We study the statistics of free surface turbulence at large Reynolds numbers produced by direct numerical simulations in a fluid layer at different thicknesses with fixed characteristic forcing scale. We observe the production of a transient inverse cascade, with a duration which depends on the thickness of the layer, followed by a transition to three-dimensional turbulence initially produced close to the bottom, no-slip boundary. Our results show that boundary conditions play a fundamental role in the nature of turbulence produced in thin layers and give limits on the conditions to produce a two-dimensional phenomenology.

3.7 Dense suspensions

We study the rheological behaviour of a dense bidispersed suspension varying the relative size of the two dispersed phases. The main outcome of our analysis is that an enhanced flowability (reduced relative viscosity) of the suspension can be achieved by increasing the dispersion ratio of the phases. We explain the observed result by showing that the presence of large particles increases the packing efficiency of the suspension, leading to a reduction of the contribution of the contacts on the overall viscosity of the suspension in the shear-thickening regime, i.e. where the contacts are the dominating component.

4. Publications

4.1 Journals

  1. A. Monti, S. Olivieri, M. E. Rosti "Collective dynamics of dense hairy surfaces in turbulent flow" DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31534-7
  2. M. E. Rosti, P. Perlekar, D. Mitra "Large is different: Nonmonotonic behavior of elastic range scaling in polymeric turbulence at large Reynolds and Deborah numbers" DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add3831​
  3. A. Monti, M. E. Rosti "Shear-thickening of dense bidispersed suspensions" DOI: 10.1007/s11012-023-01647-4
  4. G. Boffetta, S. Musacchio, A. Mazzino, and M. E. Rosti "Transient inverse energy cascade in free surface turbulence" DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevFluids.8.034601
  5. G. Foggi Rota, A. Monti, M. E. Rosti, M. Quadrio "Saving energy in turbulent flows with unsteady pumping" DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28519-x
  6. P. Mirbod, S. Abtahi, A. M. Bilondi, M. E. Rosti, L. Brandt "Turbulent channel flow of suspensions of neutrally buoyant particles over porous media" DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.982
  7. M. Crialesi Esposito, N. Scapin, A. D. Demou, M. E. Rosti, P. Costa, F. Spiga, L. Brandt "FluTAS: A GPU-accelerated finite difference code for multiphase flows" DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2022.108602
  8. S. Olivieri, I. Cannon, M. E. Rosti "The effect of particle anisotropy on the modulation of turbulent flows" DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.832
  9. S. Olivieri, A. Mazzino, M. E. Rosti "On the fully coupled dynamics of flexible fibres dispersed in modulated turbulence" DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.611
  10. A. Monti, S. Nicholas, M. Omidyeganeh, A. Pinelli, M. E. Rosti "On the solidity parameter in canopy flows" DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.551
  11. S. M. H. Khorasani, U Lacis, S. Pasche, M. E. Rosti, S. Bagheri "Near-wall turbulence alteration with the transpiration-resistance model" DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.358
  12. M. Crialesi Esposito, M. E. Rosti, S. Chibbaro, L. Brandt "Modulation of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence in emulsions" DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.179
  13. M. Sarabian, M. E. Rosti, L. Brandt "Interface-resolved simulations of the confinement effect on the sedimentation of a sphere in yield-stress fluids" DOI: 10.1016/j.jnnfm.2022.104787

4.2 Books and other one-time publications

Nothing to report

4.3 Oral and Poster Presentations

Invited Talks

  1. M. E. Rosti "Turbulence in elastoviscoplastic fluids" OIST Mini-symposium on Yielding and Flow of Soft Matter Systems, Okinawa, Japan(2023.03.02)
  2. M. Abdelgawad "Tuning the extensional behavior of elastoviscoplastic fluids" OIST Mini-symposium on Yielding and Flow of Soft Matter Systems, Okinawa, Japan(2023.03.01)
  3. M. E. Rosti "The effect of compliant elastic walls on fluid flows" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2023.09.27)
  4. M. E. Rosti "Turbulence in flexible canopy flows" ISUDEF 22, Online (2023.05.31)

Contributed Talks

  1. G. Soligo "Weissenberg number effects on viscoelastic turbulent jets​" 36th Computational Fluid Dynamics Symposium of Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics (online) Okinawa, Japan (2022.11.14)
  2. G. Soligo "On the coexistence of elastic and inertial regimes in viscoelastic turbulent jets" APS – DFD meeting, USA (2022.11.20)
  3. C. Amor "2.5D turbulence in non-Newtonian jets" APS – DFD meeting, USA (2022.11.20)
  4. I. Cannon "Turbulence and intermittency in homogeneous isotropic flows of elastoviscoplastic fluids" APS – DFD meeting, USA (2022.11.20)
  5. M. E. Rosti "Particles and fibres in homogeneous isotropic turbulence" APS – DFD meeting, USA (2022.11.20)
  6. G. Foggi Rota "Direct numerical simulations of turbulent flows over flexible canopies" HPCI Project Report Meeting, Japan (2022.10.28)
  7. M. E. Rosti​ "Elastic range scaling in polymeric turbulence at large Reynolds and Deborah numbers" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2022.09.29)
  8. I. Cannon "Turbulent flows laden with isotropic and anisotropic particles​" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2022.09.29)
  9. M. Abdelgawad "The effect of plasticity on the turbulent kinetic energy cascade" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2022.09.28)
  10. G. Soligo "Non-Newtonian turbulent jets at low Reynolds number" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2022.09.28)
  11. C. Amor "Coherent structures in turbulent canopy flows" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2022.09.28)
  12. S. Tandurella "Computational modeling of flexible, extensible and twistable fibers in suspension​" Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Fluid Mechanics, Japan (2022.09.28)
  13. G. Foggi Rota "On-off pumping for drag reduction in a turbulent channel flow" European Fluid Mechanics Conference (EFMC14), Greece (2022.09.15)
  14. M. E. Rosti "Turbulence in flexible canopy flows" European Fluid Mechanics Conference (EFMC14), Greece (2022.09.15)
  15. G. Soligo "Numerical simulations of turbulent viscoelastic jets" European Fluid Mechanics Conference (EFMC14), Greece (2022.09.14)
  16. I. Cannon "Turbulent flows with isotropic and anisotropic particles" European Fluid Mechanics Conference (EFMC14), Greece (2022.09.14)
  17. M. Abdelgawad "Tuning the extensibility of elastoviscoplastic fluids" European Fluid Mechanics Conference (EFMC14), Greece (2022.09.14)
  18. G. Foggi Rota "On-off pumping for drag reduction in a turbulent channel flow" European Drag reduction and Flow Control Meeting (EDRFCM-2022), France (2022.09.08)
  19. G. Soligo "Numerical simulations of non-Newtonian jets" Twelfth International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena (TSFP12), Online (2022.07.19)
  20. I. Cannon "Modulation of homogeneous isotropic turbulence by dispersed fibres and particles" Twelfth International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena (TSFP12), Online (2022.07.19)
  21. C. Amor "Coherence in Turbulent Canopy Flows: a Study of the Flow Patterns" ISUDEF 22, Online (2022.05.31)

Seminars

  1. R. K. Singh, "Emergent inertial range from smooth velocity fields in purely elastic turbulence" International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India (2022.01.20)
  2. M. E. Rosti "Turbulence in elastoviscoplastic fluids" Osaka University, Japan (2023.01.10)
  3. S. Tandurella "Numerical simulation of dense suspensions of flexible fibers" University of Naples Federico II, Italy (2022.12.19)
  4. C. Amor "On the transition to two-dimensional turbulence in non-Newtonian jets" Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain (2022.12.169)
  5. G. Soligo "Non-Newtonian turbulent jets at low Reynolds number" OIST Internal Seminar Series, Japan (2022.12.09)
  6. I. Cannon "The effect of particle isotropy on the energy spectra of turbulent flows" University of Birmingham, UK (2022.09.19)
  7. I. Cannon "The turbulent energy cascade in flows laden with spheres and fibres" KTH Royal Institute of Science and Technology, Sweden (2022.09.07)

Posters

  1. M. Abdelgawad "Probing the extensional properties of yield stress fluids" Recent Trends in Microrheology and Microfluidics, OIST (2023.01.12)
  2. C. Amor "On the transition to two-dimensional turbulence in non-Newtonian jets" Complex and Soft Matter Interconnection Day (COSMIC 2022) (2022.12.15)

5. Intellectual Property Rights and Other Specific Achievements

Nothing to report

6. Meetings and Events

6.1 Interactions between turbulence and particles

  • Date: January 30 2023
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Prof. Susumu Goto / Osaka University, Japan

6.2 Ultimate heat transfer in wall-bounded turbulent flows

  • Date: January 20 2023
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Prof. Genta Kawahara / Osaka University, Japan

6.3 Computational Science for Cloud Turbulence

  • Date: October 20 2022
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Prof. Toshiyuki Gotoh / Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan

6.4 Numerical study about inertial migration of red blood cell under a Newtonian fluid in a microtube

  • Date: October 05 2022
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Dr. Naoki Takeishi / Osaka University, Japan

6.5 Unveiling the signature of surface tension on immiscible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence

  • Date: July 13 2022
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Mr. Stefano Brizzolara / ETH Zurich, Switzerland

6.6 Turbulence Structure over Porous Media - LBM Direct Numerical Simulations

  • Date: June 23 2022
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Prof. Kazuhiko Suga / Osaka Metropolitan UniversityOsaka Metropolitan University, Japan

6.7 Turbulence in buoyancy-driven bubbly flows

  • Date: May 24 2022
  • Venue: OIST
  • Speaker: Prof. Prasad Perlekar / TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India

7. Other

7.1 External Grants

  1. Marco E. Rosti, Ianto Cannon, Giovanni Soligo, HPCI, "Drops and surfactant in turbulent flows”, hp220100
  2. Marco E. Rosti, Ianto Cannon, Stefano Olivieri, HPCI, "Direct numerical simulations of turbulence of non-Newtonian fluids”, hp220099

7.2 Outreach

  1. Morie Koseki - Science Education Outreach School Visit
  2. Jiangming Wu - Unna Junior High School Science Club
  3. OIST news - New pumping strategy could slash energy costs of fluid transport by 22%