Effects of viscosity variations in temporal mixing layer

The objective of the present investigation is to assess the effects of viscosity variations in low-speed temporally-evolving turbulent mixing layer. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) are performed for several viscosity ratios, Rv = vhigh/vlow, varying between 1 and 9, whereas the upper and lower streams are of equal density. The space-time evolution of Variable-Viscosity Flow (VVF) is compared with the Constant-Viscosity Flow (CVF), for which Rv = 1. The initial Reynolds number, based on the initial momentum thickness, δθ,0, is Reδθ,0 = 160 for the considered cases. The study focuses on the first stages of the temporal evolution of the mixing-layer. It is shown that in VVF (with respect to CVF): (i) the birth of turbulent fluctuations is accelerated; (ii) large-scale quantities, i.e. mean longitudinal velocity and momentum thickness, are affected by the viscosity variations, thus dispelling the myth that viscosity is a 'small-scale quantity that does not affect the large scales'; (iii) the velocity fluctuations are enhanced for VVF. In particular, the turbulent kinetic energy peaks earlier and is three times larger for VVF than CVF at the earliest stage of the mixing, and (iv) the transport equation for the turbulent kinetic energy is derived and favourably compared with simulations data.