Droplet size distribution in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

Prasad Perlekar, Luca Biferale, Mauro Sbragaglia, Sudhir Srivastava, Federico Toschi

Published 2011-12-28Version 1

We study the physics of droplet breakup in a statistically stationary homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flow by means of high resolution numerical investigations based on the multicomponent lattice Boltzmann method. We verified the validity of the criterion proposed by Hinze (1955) for droplet breakup and we measured the full probability distribution function (pdf) of droplets radii at different Reynolds numbers and for different volume fraction. By means of a Lagrangian tracking we could follow individual droplets along their trajectories, define a local Weber number based on the velocity gradients and study its cross-correlation with droplet deformation.