Drag reduction via polymer solute: 3D numerical simulations of pipe flow

The mechanism of drag reduction via polymer additives is long debated in the literature. This journal published a paper (Volokh in Acta Mech 229(10):4295–4301, 2018), in which the drag reduction was explained based on the Navier–Stokes model enhanced with the viscous strength. This explanation was limited by a qualitative consideration of the onset of material instability in the laminar pipe flow. In the present work, we use the theoretical setting of Volokh (2018) in 3D numerical simulations of the realistic pipe flow where material instabilities develop into turbulence. We observe in the simulations that the addition of the polymer solute suppresses the chaotic turbulent motion, indeed, in accordance with the experimental observations of the phenomenon.