Eulerian direct interaction applied to the statistical motion of particles in a turbulent fluid

Abstract

Eulerian direct interaction is used to close Liouville's equation central to the transport of particles in a turbulent fluid where the dominant drag force is derived from the particle and local fluid velocities. The reliability of the equation is then tested by comparison of solutions with those of a computer simulation of particle motion with Stokes drag in a random velocity field. Using an empirical drag law accurate for particle Reynolds numbers up to 500, formulae are derived for the statistical moments central to particle dispersion for a weak drag force operating in a Gaussian isotropic stationary velocity field. These show for instance that the long time particle diffusion coefficient is in general greater than the equivalent value based on Stokes drag.