Turbulence unsteadiness drives extreme clustering

We show that the unsteadiness of turbulence has a drastic effect on turbulence parameters and in particle cluster formation. To this end we use direct numerical simulations of particle laden flows with a steady forcing that generates an unsteady large-scale flow. Particle clustering correlates with the instantaneous Taylor-based flow Reynolds number, and anti-correlates with its instantaneous turbulent energy dissipation constant. A dimensional argument for these correlations is presented. In natural flows, unsteadiness can result in extreme particle clustering, which is stronger than the clustering expected from averaged inertial turbulence effects.