When a particle meets a vortex ring...

Particle-laden flows are ubiquitous in a wide range of natural phenomena and industrial applications (e.g. volcanoes, fluidized beds, etc.), which justifies a large number of studies on the subject. Nevertheless,  despite considerable progress in modelling these flows, the control or even prediction of particle transport and dispersion remains an open question in many situations. To quantify the fundamental physical mechanisms of interaction, this study focuses on the interaction of a single inertial particle and a model flow, namely a vortex ring. Vortex rings can be generated whenever an impulsive motion occurs and, consequently, are one of the most widespread vortical structures. Such structure constitutes the main part of flow dynamics in many geophysical and industrial contexts. The approach chosen here was first to map the interactions as a function of the non-dimensional parameters of the problem, using 3D visualization and PIV. Next, numerical simulations (DNS, Basilisk) were performed to reproduce the experimental data and quantify the predominant forces acting on the particle trajectory.