Drag Reduction in Turbulent Wall-Bounded Flows of Realistic Polymer Solutions

Phys Rev Lett. 2022 Sep 2;129(10):104502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.104502.

Abstract

Suspensions of DNA macromolecules (0.8 wppm, 60 kbp), modeled as finitely extensible nonlinear elastic dumbbells coupled to the Newtonian fluid, show drag reduction up to 27% at friction Reynolds number 180, saturating at the previously unachieved Weissenberg number ≃10^{4}. At a large Weissenberg number, the drag reduction is entirely induced by the fully stretched polymers, as confirmed by the extensional viscosity field. The polymer extension is strongly non-Gaussian, in contrast to the assumptions of classical viscoelastic models.

MeSH terms

  • DNA*
  • Friction
  • Polymers*
  • Viscosity

Substances

  • Polymers
  • DNA