  The aggregation properties of heavy inertial particles in the elastic
turbulence regime of an Oldroyd-B fluid with periodic Kolmogorov mean flow are
investigated by means of extensive numerical simulations in two dimensions.
Both the small and large scale features of the resulting inhomogeneous particle
distribution are examined, focusing on their connection with the properties of
the advecting viscoelastic flow. We find that particles preferentially
accumulate on thin highly elastic propagating waves and that this effect is
largest for intermediate values of particle inertia. We provide a quantitative
characterization of this phenomenon that allows to relate it to the
accumulation of particles in filamentary highly strained flow regions producing
clusters of correlation dimension close to 1. At larger scales, particles are
found to undergo turbophoretic-like segregation. Indeed, our results indicate a
close relationship between the profiles of particle density and fluid velocity
fluctuations. The large-scale inhomogeneity of the particle distribution is
interpreted in the framework of a model derived in the limit of small, but
finite, particle inertia. The qualitative characteristics of different
observables are, to a good extent, independent of the flow elasticity. When
increased, the latter is found, however, to slightly reduce the globally
averaged degree of turbophoretic unmixing.

Fluid Dynamics;Chaotic Dynamics