Properties of steady states in turbulent axisymmetric flows

We experimentally study the properties of mean and most probable velocity fields in a turbulent von Kármán flow. These fields are found to be described by two families of functions, as predicted by a recent statistical mechanics study of 3D axisymmetric flows. We show that these functions depend on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2006-03, Vol.96 (12), p.124502-124502, Article 124502
Main Authors: Monchaux, R, Ravelet, F, Dubrulle, B, Chiffaudel, A, Daviaud, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
General Physics
Other
Physics
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Summary:We experimentally study the properties of mean and most probable velocity fields in a turbulent von Kármán flow. These fields are found to be described by two families of functions, as predicted by a recent statistical mechanics study of 3D axisymmetric flows. We show that these functions depend on the viscosity and on the forcing. Furthermore, when the Reynolds number is increased, we exhibit a tendency for Beltramization of the flow, i.e., a velocity-vorticity alignment. This result provides a first experimental evidence of nonlinearity depletion in nonhomogeneous nonisotropic turbulent flow.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.124502