New Perspectives in Turbulence: Scaling Laws, Asymptotics, and Intermittency

• Published in: SIAM review Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 265 - 291
• Main Authors: Barenblatt, G. I., Chorin, A. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 01.06.1998
• Subjects: Computational methods in fluid dynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental data; Flow velocity; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Mathematical constants; Mathematics; Numerical analysis; Numerical analysis. Scientific computation; Numerical linear algebra; Physics; Power laws; Reynolds number; Sciences and techniques of general use; Statistical theories; Theory; Turbulence; Turbulence simulation and modeling; Turbulent flow; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer; Viscosity; Vorticity; Large Reynolds number; Scaling law; Wall turbulence; Turbulent flow; Fully developed flow; Statistical theory; Vanishing viscosity; Numerical method; Turbulence structure; Intermittency
• ISSN: 0036-1445; 1095-7200
• DOI: 10.1137/s0036144597320047

Intermittency, a basic property of fully developed turbulent flow, decreases with growing viscosity; therefore classical relationships obtained in the limit of vanishing viscosity must be corrected when the Reynolds number is finite but large. These corrections are the main subject of the present paper. They lead to a new scaling law for wall-bounded turbulence, which is of key importance in engineering, and to a reinterpretation of the Kolmogorov-Obukhov scaling for the local structure of turbulence, which has been of paramount interest in both theory and applications. The background of these results is reviewed, in similarity methods, in the statistical theory of vortex motion, and in intermediate asymptotics, and relevant experimental data are summarized.