Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Spinodal decomposition in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
Prasad Perlekar1, Roberto Benzi2, Herman J H Clercx3
1Department of Physics and J.M. Burgerscentrum, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands; and International Collaboration for Turbulence Research and TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, 21 Brundavan Colony, Narsingi, Hyderabad 500075, India.
Turbulence arrests domain coarsening in binary mixtures by increasing the effective diffusion constant. This finding is analogous to droplet stability in turbulent emulsions, with an arrest length scale related to the Hinze length.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Fluid Dynamics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Domain coarsening is a critical process in materials science, driven by reduction of interfacial energy.
- Turbulent fluctuations can significantly alter microstructural evolution in fluid systems.
- Understanding the interplay between coarsening and turbulence is crucial for predicting material properties under flow.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of turbulence on domain coarsening in a symmetric binary mixture below its critical temperature.
- To determine if turbulent fluctuations can arrest the coarsening process.
- To establish a theoretical framework for the observed arrest phenomenon.
Main Methods:
- Simulations of a symmetric binary mixture under turbulent flow conditions.
- Analysis of domain growth kinetics and structure formation.
- Comparison with theories of turbulence and emulsion stability.
Main Results:
- Turbulent fluctuations were found to arrest the domain coarsening process.
- The arrest length scale was estimated using principles similar to Kolmogorov-Hinze theory for droplet stability.
- Turbulence effectively reverses the inverse cascade of concentration fluctuations, making the diffusion constant positive above the Hinze length.
Conclusions:
- Turbulence provides a mechanism to arrest domain coarsening in binary mixtures.
- The findings have implications for understanding microstructure evolution in turbulent emulsions and other fluid systems.
- The study provides a quantitative estimate for the arrest length scale, linking microscopic diffusion to macroscopic turbulent behavior.
More Related Videos
12:34Methods for Measuring the Orientation and Rotation Rate of 3D-printed Particles in Turbulence
Published on: June 24, 2016
11:00Experimental Investigation of Secondary Flow Structures Downstream of a Model Type IV Stent Failure in a 180° Curved Artery Test Section
Published on: July 19, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Navier–Stokes Equations
Divergence and Stokes' Theorems
Homogeneous Equilibria for Gaseous Reactions
For gas-phase reactions, the equilibrium constant may be expressed in terms of either the molar concentrations (Kc) or partial pressures (Kp) of the reactants and products. A relation between these two K values may be simply derived from the ideal gas equation and the definition of molarity. According to the ideal gas equation:
The Thermodynamics of Mixing
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
Dimensionless Groups in Fluid Mechanics