Elasto-inertial transitions in viscoelastic flows through cylinder arrays

[2604.05892] Elasto-inertial transitions in viscoelastic flows through cylinder arrays Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Physics > Fluid Dynamics arXiv:2604.05892 (physics) [Submitted on 7 Apr 2026 ( v1 ), last revised 27 Aug 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: Elasto-inertial transitions in viscoelastic flows through cylinder arrays Authors: Jack R. C. King , Henry M. Broadley , Miguel Beneitez View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: For dilute solutions of polymers, chaotic flow states can occur at lower Reynolds numbers than required for inertial turbulence in Newtonian fluids, offering the potential for increased mixing efficiency. These states may be promoted by the flow geometry, and in recent years, porous media have gained attention as a promising setting in which viscoelastic instabilities may be exploited, although studies have primarily been in the creeping flow regime. Cylinder arrays serve as a prototypical porous media, giving a controlled setting in which to investigate flow dynamics. Here we explore the transition to elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT) in cylinder arrays via detailed numerical simulations. With increasing elasticity, EIT is reached via an initial sub-critical saddle-node bifurcation from the Newtonian state and then follows a series of supercritical bifurcations, in a Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse route to chaos. This transition is driven by the interaction between vortex shedding in cylinder wakes, and the bulk flow between cylinders. Within the EIT regime, we observe an interaction between slow dynamics in cylinder wakes, and fast dynamics in channels between cylinders, leading to two distinct slopes in the energy spectra. At low Reynolds numbers arrowhead structures are present, but these are suppressed at higher inertia. In the present configuration, we find no direct connection between EIT and purely elastic instabilities. Comments: submitted JFM April 2026. Revision submitted August 2026 Subjects: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) Cite as: arXiv:2604.05892 [physics.flu-dyn] (or arXiv:2604.05892v2 [physics.flu-dyn] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.05892 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Jack King [ view email ] [v1] Tue, 7 Apr 2026 13:54:37 UTC (10,744 KB) [v2] Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:34:34 UTC (12,583 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: physics.flu-dyn < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-04 Change to browse by: physics References & Citations SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab)

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