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research article

Flow dynamics of a dandelion pappus: A linear stability approach

Ledda, Pier Giuseppe  
•
Siconolfi, Lorenzo  
•
Viola, Francesco  
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July 2, 2019
Physical Review Fluids

The study and control of flow instabilities is a key problem in aerodynamics. Aircrafts are designed not only to generate the lift force needed to balance their weight but, more importantly, to be stable and reasonably steady when in cruise conditions. Similar flow stability properties are naturally achieved by biological flying objects such as the dandelion seeds that are transported by the wind owing to a disklike structure called a pappus. The pappus creates a parachute flow configuration and is a remarkable prototype of how the wake, which would be unsteady if the pappus was completely impermeable, can be stabilized by changing the body structure so as to allow the flow to pass through. We approach the problem using the approximation of an anisotropic and nonhomogeneous rigid porous disk, combined with the linear stability analysis technique. The results show the presence of a mean porosity threshold beyond which the flow is always characterized by a separated, steady, and axisymmetric recirculating vortex ring. We compare our results with those of real dandelion pappi. The threshold is very close to the experimentally observed values of porosity, explaining why the morphology of the pappus promotes a steady wake regime.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.071901
Author(s)
Ledda, Pier Giuseppe  
Siconolfi, Lorenzo  
Viola, Francesco  
Camarri, Simone
Gallaire, François  
Date Issued

2019-07-02

Published in
Physical Review Fluids
Volume

4

Issue

7

Article Number

071901(R)

Subjects

Bifurcation

•

Flow instability

•

Flows in porous media

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LFMI  
Available on Infoscience
July 4, 2019
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/158826
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