title: Clustering criterion for inertial particles in two-dimensional time-periodic and three-dimensional steady flows.
abstract: We derive an analytic condition that predicts the exact location of inertial particle clustering in three-dimensional steady or two-dimensional time-periodic flows. The particles turn out to cluster on attracting inertial Lagrangian coherent structures that are smooth deformations of invariant tori. We illustrate our results on three-dimensional steady flows, including the Hill's spherical vortex and the Arnold-Beltrami-Childress flow, as well as on a two-dimensional time and space periodic flow that models a meandering jet in a channel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Themistoklis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sapsis
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Haller
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010316:Particle Size; D010825:Physics / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors