Numerical study of the transition to turbulence in particulate pipe flows

Abstract eng:
We present a stability analysis of a pipe flow with particle suspension. Particles are considered solid, spherical, heavy with an unique size and density. The particles are, in our physical model, modelled as a continuous phase and for the fluid-particles interactions only the Stokes drag is taken into account, the other forces being neglected. We first use a linear stability analysis to study the influence of the addition of particles to the global stability of the flow. Single phase pipe flows have been proven to be globally stable for any Reynolds number, we find that this is also the case for particulate pipe flows. The effect of particles varies with the concentration and the size of the particles, but it remains relatively weak. Then a nonlinear transient growth analysis allows us to look for the optimal perturbation triggering turbulence and the effects of particles.

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