Influence of particles on the transition to turbulence in pipe flow

Jean-Philippe Matas (1) , Jeffrey F. Morris , Elisabeth Guazzelli (2)

1 LEGI - Laboratoire des Écoulements Géophysiques et Industriels [Grenoble]
2 IUSTI - Institut universitaire des systèmes thermiques industriels

We investigate by experiment the influence of suspended solids upon the transition to turbulence in pipe flow. The particles are monodisperse and neutrally buoyant with the liquid. The role of the particles on the transition depends upon both the volume fraction, ϕ, and particle size. Below a critical particle diameter, particles alter the transition to larger critical Reynolds numbers for all ϕ. In contrast to this, larger particles move the transition to smaller Reynolds numbers for small ϕ, but they delay the transition at larger concentration.

Mots clés: particle; turbulence; suspension; intermitten cy

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Jean-Philippe Matas, Jeffrey F. Morris, Elisabeth Guazzelli. Influence of particles on the transition to turbulence in pipe flow. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (1934–1990), 2003, ⟨10.1098/rsta.2003.1173⟩. ⟨hal-00252134⟩