arXiv subjects

Itamar Procaccia

Publications and source records attributed to Itamar Procaccia.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

Saturation of Turbulent Drag Reduction in Dilute Polymer Solutions

Drag reduction by polymers in turbulent wall-bounded flows exhibits universal and non-universal aspects. The universal maximal mean velocity profile was explained in a recent theory. The saturation of this profile and the crossover back to the Newtonian plug are non-universal, depending on Reynolds number Re, concentration of polymer $c_p$ and the degree of polymerization $N_p$. We explain the mechanism of saturation stemming from the finiteness of extensibility of the polymers, predict its dependence on $c_p$ and $N$ in the limit of small $c_p$ and large Re, and present the excellent comparison of our predictions to experiments on drag reduction by DNA.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2004

Drag Reduction by Polymers in Wall Bounded Turbulence

We address the mechanism of drag reduction by polymers in turbulent wall bounded flows. On the basis of the equations of fluid mechanics we present a quantitative derivation of the "maximum drag reduction (MDR) asymptote" which is the maximum drag reduction attained by polymers. Based on Newtonian information only we prove the existence of drag reduction, and with one experimental parameter we reach a quantitative agreement with the experimental measurements.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2004

Drag Reduction by a Linear Viscosity Profile

Drag reduction by polymers in turbulent flows raises an apparent contradiction: the stretching of the polymers must increase the viscosity, so why is the drag reduced? A recent theory proposed that drag reduction in agreement with experiments is consistent with the effective viscosity growing linearly with the distance from the wall. With this self consistent solution the reduction in the Reynolds stress overwhelms the increase in viscous drag. In this Letter we show, using Direct Numerical Simulations, that a linear viscosity profile indeed reduces the drag in agreement with the theory and in close correspondence with direct simulations of the FENE-P model at the same flow conditions.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

Roughening of Fracture Surfaces: the Role of Plastic Deformations

Post mortem analysis of fracture surfaces of ductile and brittle materials on the $μ$m-mm and the nm scales respectively, reveal self affine graphs with an anomalous scaling exponent $ζ\approx 0.8$. Attempts to use elasticity theory to explain this result failed, yielding exponent $ζ\approx 0.5$ up to logarithms. We show that when the cracks propagate via plastic void formations in front of the tip, followed by void coalescence, the voids positions are positively correlated to yield exponents higher than 0.5.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Shell Model of Two-dimensional Turbulence in Polymer Solutions

We address the effect of polymer additives on two dimensional turbulence, an issue that was studied recently in experiments and direct numerical simulations. We show that the same simple shell model that reproduced drag reduction in three-dimensional turbulence reproduces all the reported effects in the two-dimensional case. The simplicity of the model offers a straightforward understanding of the all the major effects under consideration.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

Stress field around arbitrarily shaped cracks in two-dimensional elastic materials

The calculation of the stress field around an arbitrarily shaped crack in an infinite two-dimensional elastic medium is a mathematically daunting problem. With the exception of few exactly soluble crack shapes the available results are based on either perturbative approaches or on combinations of analytic and numerical techniques. We present here a general solution of this problem for any arbitrary crack. Along the way we develop a method to compute the conformal map from the exterior of a circle to the exterior of a line of arbitrary shape, offering it as a superior alternative to the classical Schwartz-Cristoffel transformation. Our calculation results in an accurate estimate of the full stress field and in particular of the stress intensity factors K_I and K_{II} and the T-stress which are essential in the theory of fracture.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Conformal Dynamics of Precursors to Fracture

An exact integro-differential equation for the conformal map from the unit circle to the boundary of an evolving cavity in a stressed 2-dimensional solid is derived. This equation provides an accurate description of the dynamics of precursors to fracture when surface diffusion is important. The solution predicts the creation of sharp grooves that eventually lead to material failure via rapid fracture. Solutions of the new equation are demonstrated for the dynamics of an elliptical cavity and the stability of a circular cavity under biaxial stress, including the effects of surface stress.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

New Algorithm for Parallel Laplacian Growth by Iterated Conformal Maps

We report a new algorithm to generate Laplacian Growth Patterns using iterated conformal maps. The difficulty of growing a complete layer with local width proportional to the gradient of the Laplacian field is overcome. The resulting growth patterns are compared to those obtained by the best algorithms of direct numerical solutions. The fractal dimension of the patterns is discussed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2003

Dynamical Instabilities of Quasi-static Crack Propagation Under Thermal Stress

We address the theory of quasi-static crack propagation in a strip of glass that is pulled from a hot oven towards a cold bath. This problem had been carefully studied in a number of experiments that offer a wealth of data to challenge the theory. We improve upon previous theoretical treatments in a number of ways. First, we offer a technical improvement of the discussion of the instability towards the creation of a straight crack. This improvement consists of employing Padé approximants to solve the relevant Weiner-Hopf factorization problem that is associated with this transition. Next we improve the discussion of the onset of oscillatory instability towards an undulating crack. We offer a novel way of considering the problem as a sum of solutions of a finite strip without a crack and an infinite medium with a crack. This allows us to present a closed form solution of the stress intensity factors in the vicinity of the oscillatory instability. Most importantly we develop a {\em dynamical} description of the actual trajectory in the regime of oscillatory crack. This theory is based on the dynamical law for crack propagation proposed by Hodgdon and Sethna. We show that this dynamical law results in a solution of the actual track trajectory in post critical conditions; we can compute from first principles the critical value of the control parameters, and the characteristics of the solution like the wavelength of the oscillations. We present detailed comparison with experimental measurements without any free parameter. The comparison appears quite excellent. Lastly we show that the dynamical law can be translated to an equation for the amplitude of the oscillatory crack; this equation predicts correctly the scaling exponents observed in experiments.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

Shell Model for Drag Reduction with Polymer Additive in Homogeneous Turbulence

Recent direct numerical simulations of the FENE-P model of non-Newtonian hydrodynamics revealed that the phenomenon of drag reduction by polymer additives exists (albeit in reduced form) also in homogeneous turbulence. We introduce here a simple shell model for homogeneous viscoelastic flows that recaptures the essential observations of the full simulations. The simplicity of the shell model allows us to offer a transparent explanation of the main observations. It is shown that the mechanism for drag reduction operates mainly on the large scales. Understanding the mechanism allows us to predict how the amount of drag reduction depends of the various parameters in the model. The main conclusion is that drag reduction is not a universal phenomenon, it peaks in a window of parameters like Reynolds number and the relaxation rate of the polymer.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2003

Eulerian Statistically Preserved Structures in Passive Scalar Advection

We analyze numerically the time-dependent linear operators that govern the dynamics of Eulerian correlation functions of a decaying passive scalar advected by a stationary, forced 2-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence. We show how to naturally discuss the dynamics in terms of effective compact operators that display Eulerian Statistically Preserved Structures which determine the anomalous scaling of the correlation functions. In passing we point out a bonus of the present approach, in providing analytic predictions for the time-dependent correlation functions in decaying turbulent transport.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

Strong Universality in Forced and Decaying Turbulence

The weak version of universality in turbulence refers to the independence of the scaling exponents of the $n$th order strcuture functions from the statistics of the forcing. The strong version includes universality of the coefficients of the structure functions in the isotropic sector, once normalized by the mean energy flux. We demonstrate that shell models of turbulence exhibit strong universality for both forced and decaying turbulence. The exponents {\em and} the normalized coefficients are time independent in decaying turbulence, forcing independent in forced turbulence, and equal for decaying and forced turbulence. We conjecture that this is also the case for Navier-Stokes turbulence.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2003

On the Fractal Dimension of the Visible Universe

Estimates of the fractal dimension $D$ of the set of galaxies in the universe, based on ever improving data sets, tend to settle on $D\approx 2$. This result raised a raging debate due to its glaring contradiction with astrophysical models that expect a homogeneous universe. A recent mathematical result indicates that there is no contradiction, since measurements of the dimension of the {\em visible} subset of galaxies is bounded from above by D=2 even if the true dimension is anything between D=2 and D=3. We demonstrate this result in the context of a simple fractal model, and explain how to proceed in order to find a better estimate of the true dimension of the set of galaxies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Scaling exponent of the maximum growth probability in diffusion-limited aggregation

An early (and influential) scaling relation in the multifractal theory of Diffusion Limited Aggregation(DLA) is the Turkevich-Scher conjecture that relates the exponent α_{min} that characterizes the ``hottest'' region of the harmonic measure and the fractal dimension D of the cluster, i.e. D=1+α_{min}. Due to lack of accurate direct measurements of both D and α_{min} this conjecture could never be put to serious test. Using the method of iterated conformal maps D was recently determined as D=1.713+-0.003. In this Letter we determine α_{min} accurately, with the result α_{min}=0.665+-0.004. We thus conclude that the Turkevich-Scher conjecture is incorrect for DLA.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Drag Reduction by Polymers in Turbulent Channel Flows: Energy Redistribution Between Invariant Empirical Modes

We address the phenomenon of drag reduction by dilute polymeric additive to turbulent flows, using Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of the FENE-P model of viscoelastic flows. It had been amply demonstrated that these model equations reproduce the phenomenon, but the results of DNS were not analyzed so far with the goal of interpreting the phenomenon. In order to construct a useful framework for the understanding of drag reduction we initiate in this paper an investigation of the most important modes that are sustained in the viscoelastic and Newtonian turbulent flows respectively. The modes are obtained empirically using the Karhunen-Loeve decomposition, allowing us to compare the most energetic modes in the viscoelastic and Newtonian flows. The main finding of the present study is that the spatial profile of the most energetic modes is hardly changed between the two flows. What changes is the energy associated with these modes, and their relative ordering in the decreasing order from the most energetic to the least. Modes that are highly excited in one flow can be strongly suppressed in the other, and vice versa. This dramatic energy redistribution is an important clue to the mechanism of drag reduction as is proposed in this paper. In particular there is an enhancement of the energy containing modes in the viscoelastic flow compared to the Newtonian one; drag reduction is seen in the energy containing modes rather than the dissipative modes as proposed in some previous theories.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2002

A simple model for drag reduction

Direct Numerical Simulations established that the FENE-P model of viscoelastic flows exhibits the phenomenon of turbulent drag reduction which is caused in experiments by dilute polymeric additives. To gain analytic understanding of the phenomenon we introduce in this Letter a simple 1-dimensional model of the FENE-P equations. We demonstrate drag reduction in the simple model, and explain analytically the main observations which include (i) reduction of velocity gradients for fixed throughput and (ii) increase of throughput for fixed dissipation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Bi-Laplacian Growth Patterns in Disordered Media

Experiments in quasi 2-dimensional geometry (Hele Shaw cells) in which a fluid is injected into a visco-elastic medium (foam, clay or associating-polymers) show patterns akin to fracture in brittle materials, very different from standard Laplacian growth patterns of viscous fingering. An analytic theory is lacking since a pre-requisite to describing the fracture of elastic material is the solution of the bi-Laplace rather than the Laplace equation. In this Letter we close this gap, offering a theory of bi-Laplacian growth patterns based on the method of iterated conformal maps.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Scaling Exponents in Anisotropic Hydrodynamic Turbulence

In anisotropic turbulence the correlation functions are decomposed in the irreducible representations of the SO(3) symmetry group (with different "angular momenta" $\ell$). For different values of $\ell$ the second order correlation function is characterized by different scaling exponents $ζ_2(\ell)$. In this paper we compute these scaling exponents in a Direct Interaction Approximation (DIA). By linearizing the DIA equations in small anisotropy we set up a linear operator and find its zero-modes in the inertial interval of scales. Thus the scaling exponents in each $\ell$-sector follow from solvability condition, and are not determined by dimensional analysis. The main result of our calculation is that the scaling exponents $ζ_2(\ell)$ form a strictly increasing spectrum at least until $\ell=6$, guaranteeing that the effects of anisotropy decay as power laws when the scale of observation diminishes. The results of our calculations are compared to available experiments and simulations.

nlin.CD↗