How interfacial tension enhances drag in turbulent Taylor–Couette flow with neutrally buoyant and equally viscous droplets

The presence of dispersed-phase droplets can result in a notable increase in a system's drag. However, our understanding of the mechanism underlying this phenomenon remains limited. In this study, we use three-dimensional direct numerical simulations with a modified multi-marker volume-of-fluid method to investigate liquid–liquid two-phase turbulence in a Taylor–Couette geometry. The dispersed phase has the same density and viscosity as the continuous phase. The Reynolds number $Re\equiv r_i\omega _i d/\nu$ is fixed at 5200, the volume fraction of the dispersed phase is up to $40\,\%$ , and the Weber number $We\equiv \rho u^2_\tau d/\sigma$ is approximately 8. It is found that the increase in the system's drag originates from the contribution of interfacial tension. Specifically, droplets experience significant deformation and stretching in the streamwise direction due to shear near the inner cylinder. Consequently, the rear end of the droplets lags behind the fore head. This causes opposing interfacial tension effects on the fore head and rear end of the droplets. For the fore head of the droplets, the effect of interfacial tension appears to act against the flow direction. For the rear end, the effect appears to act in the flow direction. The increase in the system's drag is attributed primarily to the effect of interfacial tension on the fore head of the droplets which leads to the hindering effect of the droplets on the surrounding continuous phase. This hindering effect disrupts the formation of high-speed streaks, favouring the formation of low-speed ones, which are generally associated with higher viscous stress and drag of the system. This study provides new insights into the mechanism of drag enhancement reported in our previous experiments.