The influence of viscoelasticity on bypass transition to turbulence in channel flow is studied using data from direct numerical simulations by Agarwal et al. (2014) 1. The initial field is a superposition of a laminar base state and a localized disturbance. Relative to the Newtonian conditions, the polymeric FENE-P flow delays the onset of transition and extends its duration. The former effect is due to a weakening of the pre-transitional disturbance field, while the prolonged transition region is due to a slower spreading rate of the turbulent spots. Once turbulence occupies the full channel, a comparison of the turbulence fields shows that energetic flow structures are longer and wider in the polymeric flow. The final turbulent state is compared to elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT), where the polymer conformation field takes the form of elongated sheets with wide spanwise extent.
QC 20151102