Observation expérimentale de doublement de fréquence dans la couche de mélange viscoélastique.

An experimental mixing layer in water at Reynolds number 440 is investigated. A colored viscoelastic solution is introduced in the shear layer before the roll-up dynamics. On the basis of flow visualization and local velocity measurements, it is found that compared to the Newtonian case, the roll-up process is affected by the non-Newtonian behavior of the viscoelastic solution. The effect consists of the appearance of secondary eddies in the mixing layer corresponding to the production of higher harmonics in the vorticity distribution. Consequently, there is a frequency doubling of the local velocity oscillations in the mixing layer.