Canopy elastic turbulence: Insights and analogies to canopy inertial turbulence.

ABSTRACT: Canopy flows occur when a moving fluid encounters a matrix of free-standing obstacles and are found in diverse systems, from forests and marine ecology to urban landscapes and biology (e.g. cilia arrays). In large-scale systems, involving Newtonian fluids (like water or air), canopy flows typically exhibit inertial turbulence due to high Reynolds numbers (Re). However, in small-scale systems like cilia, where Re is low, but the fluid can be viscoelastic (like mucus), the relevant control parameter is the Weissenberg number (Wi), quantifying elastic stresses in the flow. Here, we investigate the flow of a viscoelastic polymer solution over a microscopic canopy within a microfluidic device. As the Weissenberg number increases, the flow undergoes distinct transitions, eventually becoming unst

SUBMITTER: Lopez de la Cruz RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11704960 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature