Inertial particles in stationary and decaying turbulence: towards microgravity experiments on the ISS

Numerous natural phenomena and applications are impacted by turbulence particle interaction—e.g., beach erosion and air-sea interaction. To better understand the fundamentals of turbulence particle interaction, we intend to quantify stationary and decaying particle-laden turbulence statistics in a microgravity environment, provided by the International Space Station (ISS). In this talk, we detail the experimental setup composed of two identical 2D PIV facilities measuring von Kármán flow turbulence that fit into a 3U CubeLab. We present facility validation and gravity-based results on both stationary and decaying turbulence for a range of flow Reynolds numbers with neutrally buoyant ~1 mm diameter particles.