On the Preferential Concentration of Particles in Turbulent Channel Flow: The Effect of the Added-Mass Factor

Preferential concentration, observed in turbulent flows when particle response times are of the same order of the flow’s characteristic timescales, manifests as non-uniform particle distributions in space. Unraveling its governing mechanisms holds crucial implications for both natural and industrial processes reliant on particle-laden flows. Focusing on particles with small inertia, this study employs Direct Numerical Simulations coupled with Lagrangian particle tracking to investigate the influence of the added-mass factor on the preferential concentration of particles denser than the fluid in the one-way coupling regime. It is shown how the added-mass factor β affects particle distribution within the channel through the statistical correlations between particle concentration and typical descriptors of the flow topology. The results suggest that increasing values of β (corresponding to lighter particles) significantly reduce the effectiveness of turbophoresis in producing particle accumulation in the near-wall region. Resulting in a gradual decorrelation between particle concentration and both the strain-rate and the vorticity tensors, higher values of β lead to a more uniform particle distribution, regardless of the Stokes number.