Analogy Between The Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic Equations - Application To Turbulence

Analogy between the Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic
Equations: Application to Turbulence
by
Haralabos Marmanis
M. Sc., University of Illinois, 1996
Diploma, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1994
Thesis
Submitted in partial fulllment of the requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University
May 2000
Abstract of \Analogy between the Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic Equations: Appli-
cation to Turbulence," by Haralabos Marmanis, Ph.D., Brown University, May 2000
In this thesis we have accomplished the following tasks:
1. A new theory of turbulence is initiated, for the purpose of describing the dynamical
behavior of averaged ow quantities in incompressible uid ows of high Reynolds
numbers. It is based on a new analogy between electromagnetism and turbulent
hydrodynamics. The central idea of the theory is the presentation of turbulent dy-
namics as an interplay between the vorticity eld (w = r u) and the Lamb vector
(l = w u). Two important concepts are introduced: a) the turbulent charge and
b) the turbulent current. This leads to a closed linear system of equations for the
averaged vorticity and the averaged Lamb vector. The averaged distributions of the
turbulent charge and the turbulent current appear as source terms in this system.
The premise of the theory is that the averaged distributions of the sources are the
most natural choice of turbulent quantities to be modeled. The general framework of
the theory is presented.
2. The case of homogeneous turbulence is studied next. Direct numerical simulations
of decaying homogeneous turbulence in a periodic box are conducted. The Fourier
coecients of the vorticity eld are recorded as functions of time, while turbulence
decays. These functions are projected onto the temporal eigenfunctions provided by
the theory. Three eigenfunctions suce to reproduce the time evolution of a Fourier
coecient, for nearly all the period of decay. The eigenvalues of the vorticity are
discrete, which suggests that the phenomenon of intermittency arises naturaly in this
context. The statistical properties of turbulent waves are inquired and shown to result
in a Kolmogorov type of spectrum.
3. Two cases of inhomogeneous turbulence are studied: Flow in a channel, and ow in a
circular pipe. Direct numerical simulations are used to calculate the distribution of the
turbulent sources. The partial universality of the averaged velocity prole, from the
center of the duct to the wall, is inferred by the partial universality of the turbulent
current. This kind of universality gives excellent agreement with the experimental
data available for circular pipes, in a regime of Reynolds numbers that spans four
orders of magnitude.
We suggest that the proposed theory is most suitable for the study of ows that are
unsteady and involve complex geometries. The implementation of the theory in a numerical
code will result in a powerful tool for the design of industrial applications. Aside from the
simplicity of the equations to be solved, the linearity of the equations suggests that a library
of cases can be built so that knowledge about one kind of geometry can be readily used for
another (more complex) kind of geometry, under the same ow conditions.
c Copyright
by
Haralabos Marmanis
2000
This dissertation by Haralabos Marmanis is accepted in its present form by
the Division of Applied Mathematics as satisfying the
dissertation requirement for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Date
GEORGE KARNIADAKIS, Director
Recommended to the Graduate Council
Date
MARTIN MAXEY, Reader
Date
KATEPALLI R. SREENIVASAN, Reader
Date
ROBERT H. KRAICHNAN, Reader
Approved by the Graduate Council
Date
Peder J. Estrup
Dean of the Graduate School and Research
ii
The Vita of Haralabos Marmanis
Haralabos Marmanis was born in Athens (Greece) on January 19, 1970. He obtained a
diploma in civil engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and a M.Sc.
degree in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois. A list of his
publications reads as follows:
1. Marmanis, H. and Thoroddsen, S.T. 1996

Scaling of the ngering pattern of an impacting drop
Phys. Fluids 8 (6), 1344-1346
2. Marmanis, H. 1998
The kinetic theory of point vortices
Proc. Roy. Soc. A , 454, 587-606
3. Marmanis, H. 1998
Analogy between the Navier-Stokes and Maxwell's equations:
Application to Turbulence.
Phys. Fluids 10 (6), 1428-1437
4. Marmanis H. 1999
Turbulence, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics: A common perspective.
In Photon: Old problems in light of new ideas, Ed. V.V. Dvoeglazov
Nova Science Publications
A list of conferences, and symposia, attended reads as follows:

iii
1. Marmanis H. 1996
A New Theory of Turbulence: The Meta uid Dynamics,
International Symposium on Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics,
Florida State University, November 6-8, Tallahassee, Florida.
2. Marmanis H. and Thoroddsen S. T. 1996

The Fingering Pattern of an Impacting Drop,
49th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS)
Division of Fluid Dynamics, Syracuse University,
November 24-26, Syracuse, New York.
3. Marmanis H. and Karniadakis G. 1997

Temporal Eigenfunctions of Vorticity in Decaying Isotropic Turbulence,
Division of Fluid Dynamics, University of California at Berkeley,
November 23-25, San Francisco, California.
4. Crawford C., Marmanis H. and Karniadakis G. 1998

The Lamb Vector and its Divergence in Turbulent Drag Reduction,
International Symposium on Sea-water Drag Reduction (ISSDR),
Newport, Rhode Island
5. Marmanis H., Du Y. and Karniadakis G. 1998

Turbulence Control via Geometry Modications and Electromagnetic Fields,
ECCOMAS '98, Athens, Greece
iv
6. Marmanis H. and Karniadakis G. 1998
Theoretical derivation of the mean ow in inhomogeneous turbulence,
Division of Fluid Dynamics.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
v
Acknowledgments
This work has started, in the summer of 1993, from the encouragement that the author
received by Dr. Robert H. Kraichnan. Since that time, Dr. Kraichnan has helped the
author with his perspicacious comments and his moral support. Hence, it is an honor for
the author to dedicate this work to him as a cordial devoir.
Although the initiation of this work was due to Dr. Kraichnan, the completion of it is
due to Professor George Karniadakis. Starting with the dawn of 1996, he has continuously
provided support and guidance that were necessary in order to deal with the labyrinth of
our modern academic life. Thus, in a state of gratication, the author wishes to express his
gratitude and to thank him wholeheartedly.
The vivid discussions and the congenial academic atmosphere in the division of Applied
Mathematics has played a catalytic role in the present work. Especially, Professor David
Gottlieb, Professor Martin Maxey, Professor Chi-Wang Shu, and Dr. Andrew Poje have
helped or advised the author, several times and in manifold ways. It is a pleasure for the
author to avow this support. Finally, the author would like to acknowledge and thank Mike
Kirby and the rest of our CFD group for many hours of fruitful and enjoyable confabulations.
Financial support, by the National Science Foundation under the grants CTS-9417520
and CTS-9619232 and by the Air Force grant AFOSR F49620 94-1-0313, is gratefully ac-
knowledged.
vi
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Denition of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The basic eld variables: Vorticity and Lamb's vector . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 An outline of the thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 The General Theory 14

2.1 The new concepts and equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2 The new equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3 Homogeneous Turbulence 30
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2 Direct numerical simulation and validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3 Signal analysis of the vorticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.4 Kolmogorov spectra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.5 Concluding remarks for homogeneous turbulence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4 Inhomogeneous Turbulence 64
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.2 Turbulent duct ows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
vii
4.2.1 The scaling of the turbulent current in channel ows . . . . . . . . . 71
4.2.2 A candidate universality for circular pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5 Concluding remarks 83
5.1 The motive and the rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.2 A summary of the results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
viii
List of Tables
2.1 The correspondence between microscopic electromagnetism and unaveraged
turbulent hydrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.1 The above values describe the initial congurations and give the range of Re
for the four runs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.2 The coecients of the power laws and the coecients of the polynomial
ttings for the four runs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
ix
List of Figures
2.1 The distribution of the turbulent charge for a Burgers' vortex as a function of
the radial distance. We show four dierent distributions that correspond to
four cases with dierent kinematic viscosities but they are otherwise identical.
The square symbols (2) correspond to = 0:01, the triangles (4) correspond
to = 0:001, the circles () correspond to = 0:005, and the diamonds (3)
correspond to = 0:0001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Comparison of the elds < u2r w > and < u2 > r W in a channel ow
(Re = 5 000). The averaging is done along the streamwise direction. . . . . 25
3.1 For steady state ows, the magnitudes of the turbulent sources in the central
region of ducts essentially vanish. Thus these regions are characterized as
homogeneous. Top: Channel ow data 42], the center is located at y = 0
and the wall is located at y = 1. These data are averaged in the streamwise
and spanwise directions. Bottom: Circular pipe ow data (present DNS), the
wall is at r = 1. These data are not averaged in the homogeneous directions. 59
x
3.2 The product of the maximum wavenumber times the Kolmogorov length scale
is shown as a function of time for all four runs. Values larger than one are
considered to re ect an adequate spatial resolution. See Table 1, for reference
to the symbols used. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.3 Three-dimensional structure of the turbulent charge at an intermediate stage
of the decay (Re = 20). The gure on the top represents the unaltered DNS
data, whereas the gure on the bottom represents the same data after a spa-
tial averaging has been performed. The lter length scale was approximately
equal to two Kolmogorov length scale units. The data were taken from run 4. 61
3.4 Kinetic energy versus t;1 . The symbols are data taken from run 4. The two
solid lines are two dierent ts to these data (a power law t and a second
order polynomial in powers of t;1 ) as indicated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.5 The vorticity Fourier coecient, with k = (1 1 0). The DNS signal (solid
line), the signal constructed by the rst eigenmode (2), by the rst two
eigenmodes (), by the rst three eigenmodes (). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.6 Comparison of the Fourier vorticity signals. The Fourier coecients for the
two wavevectors k = (1 1 0) and k = (1 0 1) have been set equal at the
beginning of the calculation. Their time evolution, according to M98, should
be the same. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.1 The non-dimensional turbulent current J~z , as calculated by (4.6), versus y + .

The square symbols (2) denote Re = 180, the crosses (+) denote Re = 395,
and the diamonds () denote Re = 590. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
xi
4.2 The non-dimensional turbulent current J~z , as calculated by (4.6), versus y + .
The square symbols (2) denote Re = 180, the crosses (+) denote Re = 395,
the diamonds () denote Re = 590, and the solid line denotes the universal
curve given by equation (4.12). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.3 Averaged turbulent current versus distance from the wall. Comparison be-
tween DNS data of run 3 (symbols) and the model suggested by (4.17). . . 76
4.4 Averaged streamwise velocity (scaled with its value at the centerline) versus
distance from the wall (scaled with the radius of the pipe). The square
symbols (2) are data from Lekakis (Re=30912), the diamonds (3) are data
from Zagarola (Re=25817), and the () circles are the data from Nikuradze's
experiments (Re=26092). The solid line is the theoretical prediction. . . . . 77
distance from the wall (scaled with the radius of the pipe). The diamonds
(3) are data from Zagarola (Re=439207), and the () circles are the data
from Nikuradze's experiments (Re=419421). The solid line is the theoretical
prediction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
(3) are data from Zagarola (Re=1783953), and the () circles are the data
from Nikuradze's experiments (Re=1844000). The solid line is the theoretical
prediction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
xii
(3) are data from Zagarola (Re=19903343), and the () circles are data from
Zagarola (Re=10300141). The solid line is the theoretical prediction. . . . . 81
4.8 This is the absolute value of the error in the calculated value of the wall
shear stress for ten Reynolds numbers that span four orders of magnitude.
The values are scattered but all of them are more than 1% accurate. . . . . 82
xiii
Chapter 1
Introduction
The turbulent motion of uids is an eminent problem of science, not only for its numerous
engineering applications but also for its role as an archetype of non-equilibrium statistical
mechanics. It is considered the last unsolved problem of 20th century physics, and there is
a good reason for that. Fluid and plasma turbulence are omnipresent in nature, from the
very small to the very large scales of the universe, and naturally one may ponder on why is
turbulence such a prevalent phenomenon ? Does it contain elements that are deeply rooted
in the fundamental natural laws ? Is it possible that turbulent-like mechanisms are hidden
in other phenomena but rarely recognized as such ? These questions are very serious and
important but we will not deal with them herein. Instead, we will focus on the problem of
modeling turbulence in incompressible, viscous ows.
The governing equations for these ows are the Navier-Stokes equations, and the prop-
erty of incompressibility is expressed by the divergence-free character of the velocity eld.
The validity of these equations will not be questioned here. Although doubts have been
articulated, neither strongly persuasive arguments have been given nor progress emerged
from such hypotheses. The cited reviews, textbooks and treatises cover these issues satisfac-
1
2
torily. Our choice of incompressible viscous ows at high Reynolds numbers is based on the
belief that this type of ows is suciently broad to be of practical interest and adequately
general to include all the fundamental dynamics of motion. For example, the subsonic ow
around a ying object, and generally the ows around vehicles moving in a gaseous or liquid
substance, can be conceived as incompressible, high Reynolds number ows. The range of
scales that it covers is vast, and extends from the mixing of cream in a coee cup to oceanic,
atmospheric and even interstellar ows. Nevertheless, it is true that a great number of im-
portant processes involved in applications, such as combustion, compressibility or chemical
reactions are excluded. This choice has been made for the following two reasons. Firstly,
the great challenge of high Reynolds number ows is not the possible degree of perplexity of
a particular problem, but the inherent nonlinearity included in the Navier-Stokes equations.
Secondly, since we introduce new concepts and a novel point of view, it is reasonable to
apply the theory at its simplest form and examine whether it can be useful or not. If it is,
then an extension towards more elaborated cases can be undertaken.
Finally, we should emphasize that our main objective is the study of three-dimensional
turbulence, although the theory can be readily extended to the idealized concept of two-
dimensional turbulence. In contrast, the dynamics ensued by Burger's equation { often
referred to as one-dimensional turbulence or \Burgerlence" { can not be considered as
turbulence because the vorticity eld and the Lamb vector are fundamental variables in the
theory of meta uid dynamics. Since there is not vorticity in one dimension, this kind of
dynamics will be excluded from farther consideration.
3
1.1 The Denition of the Problem
Let us consider an incompressible viscous uid that occupies a given region of space. This
region may be either a domain enclosed by a prescribed boundary or an open domain that
is simply- or multiply-connected. Under the in uence of any forcing, the uid will be set in
motion. Energy will be drawn from the work done by the forcing, it will be redistributed
among dierent parts of the uid, and eventually it will be dissipated to molecular heat.
Our problem is to describe these uid motions that require a signicant agitation of the uid
constituents, in order to redistribute and eventually dispose o the energy that is provided
from the forcing.
We consider our uid as a continuum medium, rather than an enormous assembly of
molecules. This means that the beautiful kinetic theory of gases or other atomistic points of
view will not concern us. The ratio of the mean free path (between molecular collisions) to
the smallest length scales (subsumed in the ow) is an extremely small number, and similar
arguments hold for the relevant time scales as well. Hence, the continuum hypothesis is
well justied 1], 2], 3], 4]. Subsequently, in order to describe the motion of the uid
we need to establish a reference frame. There are merely two ways of describing the uid
motion. The rst is the material description, which chronicles the history of each particle.
The second is the spatial description, which presents the state of motion at each spatial
location for all times. The rst description is called the \Lagrangian" description whereas
the second is called the \Eulerian" description (for a brief account of a relevant historical
anecdote see 5]). We will use the Eulerian description of uid motion, unless otherwise
noted. This means that we are examining what happens at every point of our domain, at
any instant of time. Each point is associated with a three-dimensional vector x (given in
terms of our reference frame), and each instant of time is associated with the value of a real
4
variable t. The motion is completely determined if we know the velocity vector u(x t) and
the pressure p(x t), for all points in space and time.
The governing equations that these elds obey have an interesting history. In 1736, Euler
had indicated by inferences that his Mechanica was the rst part of a planned treatise in
six parts, the sixth of which was to be concerned with the motion of uids. Although he
never completed his planned treatise, Euler gradually built his great memoirs (e.g. 6], 7],
8]) that described the motion of ideal uids. Several of the basic ideas of uid dynamics
can be found in the works of Euler's antecedents, except that their exposition is incomplete
and sometimes even obscure. Euler's work has certainly been the rst perspicuous and
perspicacious exposition of the foundations of uid mechanics. In Fourier's words1 9]:
\On est parvenu a exprimer par des equations generales a dierences partielles
les conditions du mouvement des uides. Cette decouverte, qui est un des plus
beaux resultats de la Geometrie moderne, est due a d'Alembert et a Euler : : :
Euler : : : donne ces equations sous une forme simple et distincte qui embrasse
tous les cas possibles, et il les demontre avec cette clarite admirable qui est le
caractere principal de tous ses ecrits."
Euler's dynamical equations of motion can be written in the following form

!
@ u = ; (w u) ; r p + u2 (1.1)
@t 2
where w(x t) is the vorticity eld (i.e. w(x, t) r u), and is the (constant) density.
These equations essentially express Newton's second law of motion 10], when applied to
1
\We managed to express through general equations in terms of partial derivatives the conditions for the
motion of uids. This discovery, which is one of the most beautiful results of the modern geometry, is due to
d'Alembert and Euler : : : Euler : : : gives these equations in a simple and distinct form that embraces all the
possible cases, and he demonstrates them with this admirable clarity which is the principal characteristic of
all his writings."
5
a continuum medium, and they thereby express the conservation of momentum for the
uid elements. For an ideal uid identical to the one considered by Euler, in addition to the
conservation of momentum, we also have conservation of the uid mass. The latter, however,
for an incompressible uid is consolidated to the requirement of a solenoidal velocity eld
(this name was introduced by W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) 11]), i.e.
ru = 0: (1.2)
Euler's work paved the way for Navier 12], and Stokes 13], who presented the dynamic
equation of motion for a viscous, or non-ideal, uid. The modied equations (1.1), which
are called the Navier-Stokes equations, can be written as follows
!
@ u = ; (w u) ; r p + u2 + r2u (1.3)
@t 2
where is the coecient of kinematic viscosity. The vector product of the vorticity with
the velocity is the Lamb vector, and it will be denoted as
l(x t) w u :
The quantity in the parenthesis of the second term in the r.h.s. of (1.3) is the Bernoulli
energy function, or total head, and will be denoted as
!(x t) p + u2 :
2
It is customary to present the above equation in a nondimensional form by introducing a

characteristic velocity scale (V ), and a characteristic length scale (L). The result is the
following equation
!
@ u = ; (w u) ; r p + u2 + 1 r2u (1.4)
@t 2 Re
6
where Re = V L= is the celebrated Reynolds number. In the above equation, we kept
the same notation as before but with the understanding that all our quantities are now
nondimensional.
The problem of turbulence is to nd the averaged properties of the solutions of equation
(1.4), under the constraint of the incompressibility condition (1.2). Equations (1.4) and
(1.2) form a system of partial dierential equations, which is supplemented by appropriate
boundary and initial conditions. For example, in the presence of rigid boundaries the no-
slip condition is usually employed and the ow may be generated from rest. The above
system is considered to describe adequately high Reynolds number ows. Nevertheless, we
already mentioned that turbulent ows are characterized by many spatio-temporal scales,
produced and sustained by a continuous transfer of energy from the larger scales to the
smaller ones. The interaction between all these scales results in a very complicated motion
which manifests itself by the rather chaotic or stochastic behavior of the ow quantities
when recorded as time-histories. This means that there exists an enormous amount of
point-wise information that, from a practical point of view, we often do not really need
to know. Instead, we may need to know the properties of averaged quantities that are
related to the ow. To this end, Reynolds 14] introduced the decomposition of the elds
into a mean and a uctuating part. This is the famous Reynolds decomposition, which
applied to the equations of motion leads to the notorious closure problem. The latter is a
common feature of averaged nonlinear equations, since nonlinearity will introduce higher
order moments of the uctuations. So, a question that may be asked is whether there exist
dynamic variables in terms of which the governing equations become linear. It is important
to notice that many of the diculties that arise in tackling nonlinear dynamical systems,
by perturbation and cumulant-discard techniques, are also exhibited in the study of linear
7
random oscillators. This issue deserves a small digression, in order to be addressed.
The calculation of mean Green's functions for linear stochastic equations arises in the
study of many problems, such as wave propagation in a medium with random refractive
index uctuations and impurity scattering. Like our closure problem due to nonlinearity,
the calculation for linear stochastic systems also involves a dicult closure problem which
is usually tackled by means of renormalization perturbation techniques (RPT). These tech-
niques were rst applied to quantum eld theory problems, but they have been adopted
by many other elds since their rst appearance. In 1961, Kraichnan 15] published his
seminal work on the dynamics of nonlinear stochastic systems where he demonstrated that,
for a given linear stochastic equation, a closed nonlinear master equation can be found for
the mean Green's function of a model which he called the random coupling model. The
latter proers a case where the true dynamical problem is replaced by a model dynamical
system that leads, without any approximations invoked, to closed equations for correlation
functions and averaged Green's functions. The solutions to these closed equations have
certain consistency properties that are not always present in the RPT or in the cumulant-
discard techniques. For our purposes, the relevance of this ingenious work lies on the fact
that the random coupling model is essentially a generalization of the dynamical equations
which describe an ensemble of linear oscillators in terms of their collective parameters and
coordinates (see section 3 of 15]). We will see that the new approach presented herein is,
in some sense, a parallel of the random coupling model in physical space. For, in both
cases, we attempt to imitate the dynamics by following as closely as possible the governing
equations, and subsequently introduce a modication which, although articial, produces
a completely soluble system. However, although in both cases we model the coupling be-
tween the various modes of the system, the modeled couplings in meta uid dynamics have
8
a prominent structure in physical space.
The conclusion is that, in general, the problem of discovering a linear or decoupled
description is unsolved. Nonetheless, for equations (1.4) and (1.2), we can always present
some part of the nonlinearities as sources to be modeled. When these nonlinearities have a
special physical signicance, striking merits can be gained. By physical signicance we mean
something that has a clear connection with familiar ow quantities and whose properties
and distribution can be studied in the physical space. This is the case with the sources of the
electromagnetic eld. In uid mechanics, this kind of approach is encountered in Lighthill's
early work on sound generated aerodynamically 16]. His theory introduced the notion of
externally applied stresses as the sources of the radiation eld, and the problem was reduced
to the calculation of the radiation eld from a distribution of acoustic quadrupoles. Herein
we will identify certain quantities as the sources of turbulent motion (i.e. the equivalent of
Lighthill's stress tensor). These new ow quantities possess spatial and temporal structure,
and they are the result of an eort to present turbulence as an interplay between vorticity
and the Lamb vector.
As we said earlier, the exact knowledge of turbulent uid motion is neither necessary
nor desirable. It is not necessary because for practical applications all that is needed, in
the majority of the circumstances, is an average knowledge of the uid motion. This is a
familiar situation in the kinetic theory of gases. For instance, suppose that we examine
the properties of a gas contained inside a box, after all the fast processes have happened
and statistical equilibrium has been established. If we are interested in calculating, for
argument's sake, the thickness of the wall of the box, then the necessary knowledge is the
average pressure on the wall of the box, and not the exact momenta of each molecule during
their impact on the wall. Similarly, in the design of a new vehicle, we want to know what
9
is the average value of the hydro- or aero-dynamic force on the body.
Furthermore, exact knowledge of the turbulent motion is not always required, and per-
haps it is not desirable because the amount of information gathered would be immense
and its storage, let alone its analysis, virtually impossible. Thus a pragmatic task for a
theory of turbulence would be the description of the averaged properties of the ow, e.g.
the averaged pressure and the averaged velocity, when only bulk properties are given, e.g.
the mean energy and the geometry of the ow. It is the purpose of the present thesis to
enunciate such a candidate for modeling turbulence.
1.2 The basic eld variables: Vorticity and Lamb's vector

The importance of the vorticity eld in the evolution of all real ows has been reported
quite often in the literature 17], 18], 19]. It is commonly accepted that the distinguishing
feature of turbulent ows is the presence of vorticity 20]. However, the other important
ow quantity, i.e. the Lamb vector, received relatively little attention. The Lamb vector
appears prominently in Lagrange's acceleration formula, and whether it is a zero, a lamellar,
a complex lamellar vector, or none of these, it is a decisive factor in the nature of the uid
motion. Previous work on the Lamb vector, and its properties, has been done mainly in
two directions. On the one hand, in the context of xed points of the Euler equations
and reduction of nonlinearity, there is the type of approach undertaken by Kraichnan &
Panda 21]. These authors decompose the Lamb vector into a potential and a solenoidal
part and compare their magnitudes. A large potential part implies a high probability
for the Fourier image of the Lamb vector and the wave vector k to be aligned, and the
argument made is that purely kinematic properties of turbulent ows can lead to reduction
of their nonlinearity. On the other hand, Wu and his collaborators 22] have examined the
10
properties of the Lamb vector in the context of turbulence modeling and concluded the
following: \the problem of modeling turbulent force exclusively amounts to modeling the
mean turbulent Lamb vector"# this approach is closer in spirit to the present study. Here,
as well as in Wu et al. 23], a transport equation for the Lamb vector is derived. But, unlike
their approach, our \closure" is sought in terms of the mean vorticity and the mean Lamb
vector as constituting a system of dual variables. This results in a dierent notion of the
turbulent sources, which has a direct physical signicance and is easy to model. What we
shall propose is to form a system of equations not for the average values of u and p, but for
the average values of w and l. That being so, we will construct a dynamical theory of the
latter two elds, that is able to capture the essential physics of turbulent ows by modeling
the remaining nonlinearities in physical space. This methodology results in a system that
reminds one electrodynamics rather than traditional hydrodynamics. This analogy merits
individual attention, because it is on the foundation of the proposed theory.
In the 19th century, there was a considerable eort to provide a mechanical representa-
tion of electromagnetism. This eort resulted in a number of models regarding the nature
of the aether, and some of them have explicitly invoked the dynamics of uids as being
the dynamics of the aether medium. In particular, the vortex model described by Maxwell
24], in his paper `On Physical Lines of Force', helped him to introduce some of his most
important ideas# such as the displacement current and the electromagnetic theory of light.
Riemann, as early as 1861, remarked that the scalar and the vector electromagnetic poten-
tials should be interpreted as the density and the velocity, respectively, of the aether. In
1858, Helmholtz 25], being motivated by Euler's comments, discovered that vortex rings in
an ideal uid are structures which permanently possess their character during their motion,
and cannot be destroyed. The individuality of vortices suggested a connection with the
11
atomic theory of matter, and thereby the theory of vortex motion has been applied to the
construction of another aetheric model. In 1880, W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) has shown
that, in certain circumstances, a uid can be in a hybrid state of rotational and irrotational
motion, so that on a large scale the motion is homogeneous, i.e. having within any sensible
volume an equal amount of rotational motion in all directions. To a uid having such a
type of motion he gave the name vortex sponge. The greatest advance in the vortex sponge
theory of the aether was made seven years later, when again W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin)
26] showed that the equation of propagation of laminar disturbances in a vortex sponge
is the same as the equation of propagation of luminous vibrations in the aether. Lastly
it should be mentioned that, although these eorts have been reduced in number during
the early years of the 20th century, in 1931 we nd J.J. Thompson 27] to investigate \the
analogy between the electromagnetic eld and a uid containing a large number of vortex
laments." For a detailed account on the history of aether and electricity the interested
reader should consult the authoritative work of E. Whittaker 28].
The above mentioned eorts, by the founding fathers of the electromagnetic theory,
have been somewhat overshadowed by the advent of quantum mechanics and the theory
of relativity, and they have subsequently become obsolete. The main argument of those
physicists, who could be called pragmatists, was that since we were aware of the fundamental
equations (Maxwell's equations) their interpretation could not be of further signicance# at
least as far as practical problems were concerned. A related interpretational problem, that
persisted up to now, was that of quantum mechanics 29], 30]. The list of people that
resisted the so-called orthodox Copenhagen interpretation includes again the founders of
the subject# de Broglie, Einstein, Schr%odinger, and Dirac. These eminent problems of the
electromagnetic and quantum mechanical interpretation have recently been revisited by the
12
author 31], but a full account will not be given herein. Instead, we will present the problem
of uid ows in a way that is analogous to the Maxwell equations and advocate the modeling
of the turbulent sources (the analogues of the electric sources) as a new closure strategy.
1.3 An outline of the thesis

In the context of a doctoral thesis, it is not feasible to study and document the results
of all the possibilities that the theory oers for investigation. Our task is to present the
general framework, and subsequently to examine some of its consequences in the case of
homogeneous and the case of inhomogeneous turbulence.
In particular, Chapter 2 begins by establishing the analogy which spurred the proposed
theory. This introduces the new concepts and the assumptions under which the analogy
can be rmly established. These assumptions are examined for particular ows, such as
Burger's vortices and turbulent ows in channels and pipes. The moment expansion of the
basic elds (i.e. the vorticity and the Lamb vector) is given in detail and in an analogous
manner to its electromagnetic equivalent.
In Chapter 3, we examine the case of homogeneous turbulence. We dene this kind of
ow in a way that encompasses the traditional denition but it is based entirely on the
nature of the newly dened sources. We show that the conventional DNS of homogeneous
turbulence are indeed homogeneous in the new sense, and that for channel and circular
pipe ows the region away from the walls can be considered homogeneous. The new dual
symmetry of the proposed theory is stated explicitly. The DNS of homogeneous turbulence
are presented and their results are exploited for the analysis of the vorticity equation.
The eigenvalues of the latter are found to form a discrete set, which suggests that the
phenomenon of intermittency could be viewed as the manifestation of \jumps" between
13
various eigenstates. Lastly, the predicted waves are taken to form an ensemble of weakly
interacting waves. The theory of wave turbulence is invoked and it is shown that Kolmogorov
solutions can be obtained as universal solutions of the kinetic equation for the velocity
correlator. We will see that this result presupposes a non-vanishing value of the kinematic
viscosity.
In Chapter 4, we examine the case of inhomogeneous turbulence. We focus on internal
ows, and specically we examine the ow in a channel and the ow in a circular pipe. We
show that the only forcing term in the equation of the averaged velocity is the turbulent
current. We study the distribution of the latter as a function of the distance from the
wall. Our analysis shows that these distributions (and consequently the averaged velocity
itself) are not universal in the strict sense of the word. They depend on both the geometry
and the Reynolds number. We propose a universal form of the turbulent current for pipe
ows and derive the averaged velocity throughout the pipe for four orders of magnitude
in Reynolds number. These results are compared with experimental pipe ow results and
are found in good agreement. Preliminary DNS data for the circular pipe corroborate that
the turbulent current does have a distribution that agrees with the one that is proposed.
Finally, in Chapter 5, we summarize our results and state brie y the potential advantages
that the application of the theory would have in industrial problems.
Chapter 2
The General Theory

2.1 The new concepts and equations
Let us start by stating two well known formulae that are related with the vorticity eld.
The rst is obtained by taking the curl of (1.3) and describes the evolution of the vorticity
eld. In particular, we have
@ w = ; r l + r2 w : (2.1)
@t
In addition, since vorticity is the curl of the velocity, we have that
rw = 0 : (2.2)
Hence, it follows that we can rewrite equation (2.1) as
@w = ; r l ; r r w : (2.3)
@t
The above equations are valid locally, whether the uid motion is turbulent or not, and
averaged forms of these equations should also be valid# as long as the averaging operator
commutes with spatial and temporal dierentiation. A nice property of equation (2.1) is
14
15
that it contains only the vorticity and the Lamb vector. So, if one knew the Lamb vector
then the solution of (2.1), with appropriate boundary and initial conditions, would be a
matter of solving a linear partial dierential equation. Nevertheless, this is again a closure
problem and the question of how to obtain the Lamb vector remains. One of the possibilities
would be to model the curl of the Lamb vector by some other quantity involving only the
vorticity. This is not very promising though, since by the denition of the Lamb vector it
is obvious that velocity gradients dierent from the vorticity emerge and no progress will
be made. However, notice that we can consider the Lamb vector as another dynamical
variable, besides vorticity, and envision equations (2.1) and (2.2) as an incomplete system
of four equations, where the evolution and the divergence of the vorticity are given, whereas
the evolution and the divergence of the Lamb vector are missing. Thus our goal will be
to obtain these relationships and arrive at a complete system where the evolution of one
eld involves the spatial changes of the other, while extra nonlinear terms are conceived
as their sources. Whenever the theory is applied in a particular case, these sources will be
considered as having been determined not from the values of the elds but from the external
conditions of the ow, i.e. the geometry and the gross energetics.
Now, let us examine the divergence of the Lamb vector. By applying the divergence
operator on both sides of the Navier-Stokes, we get
r l(x t) = ;r2 ! (2.4)
ergo the divergence of the Lamb vector is equal to the \lumpiness" of the Bernoulli energy
function (the term lumpiness has been introduced by Morse & Feshbach 32]). It follows that
the same quantity is endowed with a clear physical meaning: it represents the tendency of
the energy to clump at some regions where its value is positive, and to evacuate some other
regions where its value is negative# the stronger the tendency, the greater the magnitude of
16
the divergence. In the case where the Laplacian is zero, the energy has no curvature at all
and its density arranges itself so as to average out the dierences imposed by the boundary
conditions. Notice that for an incompressible Newtonian uid, the divergence of the Lamb
vector is the same for both the inviscid and the viscous case# this is evident from direct
calculation of the equations.
The above considerations lead naturally to the introduction of the turbulent charge
density n(x t), whose mathematical denition is given by
r l(x t) = ;r2 ! n(x t) : (2.5)
This new quantity can be written in terms of the velocity and the vorticity, by using a
familiar vector identity, i.e.
r l(x t) = u r w ; w w : (2.6)
This equation explicitly states that the turbulent charge density is identically zero for
irrotational ows. Hence, as a property of rotational ows only, it ts genuinely in the
category of desired ow quantities set forth in the introduction. Nevertheless, its merit is
not simply its connection with rotational ows, but rather the specic way in which the
vorticity appears in (2.6). For instance, think of the turbulent ow in a pipe or in a channel
and use any proper averaging operator in (2.6). It can be shown that the average of the rst
part is equal to the average of the second part whenever an isotropic situation occurs, thus
the average turbulent charge density is zero in these regions. This is the case for the center
region of a pipe or a channel and consequently the distribution of the turbulent charge
in these cases should be concentrated on the boundaries. We will elaborate more on this
matter in the next chapters.
We will proceed now with the derivation of the equation that describes the evolution of
17
the Lamb vector. The starting point is the Navier-Stokes equations written in the form
l = ; @@tu ; r! + r2u : (2.7)
If we take the time derivative of both sides of (2.7), we can write
@ l = ; @ 2 u ; r @ ! + r2 @ u : (2.8)
@t @t2 @t @t
The rst two parts on the r.h.s. of (2.8) can be characterized as inviscid contributions to the
evolution of the Lamb vector, in the sense that they are the only parts present in the inviscid
case. Whereas the third part can be considered as the viscous correction to it. Therefore,
we will rst write down the evolution of the Lamb vector as if the uid was inviscid (i.e.
governed by the Euler equations), and then require that viscous eects will occur only
through the last part of (2.8). This is not an exact derivation based on the Navier-Stokes,
but it is physically plausible and reduces to the exact result in the case of zero viscosity.
Moreover, the exact result from the Navier-Stokes demands the modeling of a nonlinear
term who's physical meaning is not clear. For a theory of high Reynolds numbers, the
viscous corrections are not the dominant terms and their eects are of primary importance
in the very small scales which, as we shall see, can eventually be ltered out by an averaging
procedure.
The calculation of the inviscid parts is given in Appendix A, and the result is
@ l = u2 r w ; un ; r (u w)u
@t
; w r(! + u2) ; 2(l r)u : (2.9)
The rst part on the r.h.s. of the above equation resembles, apart from the u2 multiplicative
factor, the rst part that appears in the evolution equation of the vorticity. The rest of
the terms have no equivalent in the vorticity equation and can not be written only as
18
combinations of w or l. Thus we arrive at the concept of the second turbulent source,
namely, the turbulent current vector j(x t) whose mathematical denition is given by
j = un + r (u w)u + w r(! + u2) + 2(l r)u : (2.10)
If we add the viscous part, which results from the substitution of the Navier-Stokes in the
last part of (2.8), to the above result then we will get the following governing equation
@ l = u2r w ; j + r(;r2 !) ; r2 l + 2 r4u : (2.11)

@t
The term in the parenthesis is the newly introduced turbulent charge density, whereas the
last term is a second order correction in the viscosity (i.e. in non-dimensional terms would
scales as Re;2 whereas the other terms are of order one or scale as Re;1 ), and therefore it
can be neglected. Thus we arrive at the nal form of our model equation that describes the
evolution of the Lamb vector, i.e.
@ l = u2r w ; j + rn(x t) ; r2l (2.12)

@t
which due to (2.5) can be rewritten as
@ l = u2 r w ; j + r r l (2.13)
@t
In conclusion, we have found a system of four equations (i.e. (2.3), (2.2), (2.5) and
(2.13)) that are valid locally at any part of the uid to a certain degree of approximation,
as far as viscous corrections are concerned. These equations should be correct whether the
uid is turbulent or laminar, although in the latter cases the equations (2.5) and (2.13)
are nugatory. The derivation of the latter equations involved the introduction of two new
concepts: the turbulent charge density n(x t) and the turbulent current vector j(x t). These
quantities should be taken as an input and can not be determined by the theory, thus our
19
ability to obtain them by observation is of fundamental importance. Finally, we remark
that this system of equations is linear, therefore it does not produce new unknowns after
averaging.
2.2 The new equations

For an inviscid uid (i.e. = 0) the governing equations of the two systems are exactly
analogous and have signicant consequences that are examined elsewhere 31]. Nevertheless,
in order to facilitate the comprehension of the theory, it is helpful to state explicitly the
analogy between the equations that we found in the previous section and the so-called
microscopic Maxwell-Lorentz equations. The latter equations can be written as follows 33]
rb = 0 (2.14)
@b = ;r e (2.15)
@t
r e = 4 (2.16)
@ e = c2 r b ; 4 i (2.17)
@t
where b(x t) is the microscopic magnetic eld, e(x t) is the microscopic electric eld, (x t)
is the microscopic charge density, and i(x t) is the microscopic current. A more economical
description of the elds is obtained by introducing the vector potential a(x t) and the scalar
potential (x t). It is easy to see that the substitutions
b = r a (2.18)
e = ; @@ta ; r (2.19)
yield (2.14) and (2.15) as identities. Table (2.2) gives the complete correspondence between
the variables of the two systems, when = 0.
20
Electromagnetism Turbulent Hydrodynamics

a(x t) u(x t)
(x t) !(x t)
b(x t) w(x t)
e(x t) l(x t)
(x t) n(x t)
i(x t) j(x t)
Table 2.1: The correspondence between microscopic electromagnetism and unaveraged tur-
bulent hydrodynamics
The correspondence between the equations is given, in a synoptic way, as follows (recall
that = 0)
rw = 0 $ rb = 0
@w = ; r l $ @b = ;r e
@t @t
rl = n $ r e = 4
@ l = u2 r w ; j $ @@te = c2 r b ; 4 i :
@t
The two systems share the common feature of having their primary elds varying ex-
tremely rapidly in space and in time. One may argue that in electromagnetism the charge
and the current are given, whereas in our case they are part of the problem. In fact, this
is not so. The reason is that the spatial variations of the microscopic electromagnetic elds
occur over distances of the order of 10;8 cm or less, and their temporal uctuations oc-
cur over periods ranging from 10;13 sec for nuclear vibrations to 10;17 sec for electronic
orbital motion. Macroscopic measuring devices average over intervals much larger than
these. Therefore, all the microscopic uctuations are averaged out, giving relatively smooth
and slowly varying macroscopic quantities 33]. These macroscopic quantities are deter-
mined by experiments and that's why they are considered as an input in the macroscopic
21
Maxwell equations. The importance of this distinction between knowns and unknowns in
electromagnetism is worth of a small digression.
If we insist in making precise the electromagnetic sources, then we need to invoke con-
cepts and methods used in quantum electrodynamics. The resulting qualitative picture for
the electromagnetic sources in the latter representation is akin to the picture of turbulent
sources in the frame of the proposed theory, but with a very important dierence: The
turbulent sources can not have a point-like structure. Point particles have been adopted in
quantum electrodynamics from the classical theory, but they give in both cases inadmissible
singularities. Thus, the idea of extended particles (i.e. by delineating a compact support
for certain properties of the elds) is especially welcome.
Now, the plan for new turbulence theory is exactly the same as it is for electromag-
netism 33]. Since we have obtained the fundamental \microscopic" equations (2.3), (2.2),
(2.5), and (2.13), we will rst average all quantities over the space variables, by applying
a spatial ltering method as proposed by Russako 34]. The resulting average sources are
to be determined by experiment, actual or numerical, and be considered as an input in the
equations of the meta uid dynamics. Let us start with the ltering method. The spatial
average of a function A(x t) with respect to a test function f (x) will be dened in terms
of a convolutional integral given by
Z
hA(x t)i = f (x0)A(x ; x0 t) d3x0
where f (x) is real, nonnegative, nonzero in some neighborhood of x = 0, and normalized

to unity over all space. Moreover, in order to preserve directional characteristics, we can
consider the class of functions f (x) that are isotropic in space. For example, a function of
this class is
r2
f (x) = (R2); 23 e; R2 :
22
What we really need for our lter function are general continuity and smoothness properties
that will allow us to perform a rapidly converging Taylor series expansion of f (x) over small
distances, e.g. of the order of the Kolmogorov microscale
. This is an expansion of the
following form
f (x + a) f (x) + (a r)f (x) + 12 (a r)2f (x)
where the magnitude of a is of the order of

. The Kolmogorov microscale seems to be the
most appropriate length scale representing the linear dimensions of the turbulent charges,
because there is growing evidence 35] that the local maxima of enstrophy are associated
with strong coherent vortices whose radii are of the order of the Kolmogorov scale and
their internal length is of the order of the Taylor microscale. These laments are believed
to behave as inhomogeneous Burgers vortices driven by an axial stretching which acts
similarly to the strain uctuations of the background ow. This being so, it is a simple
matter to show by direct calculation that the appropriate scale for the charges is, indeed, of
the order of the Kolmogorov scale. Indeed, gure 2.1 presents four dierent turbulent charge
distributions that correspond to four cases of a Burgers vortex 36], with dierent viscosities
but otherwise identical. It should be clear from the shapes of the distributions in gure 2.1,
that the averaged turbulent charge for these structures should be practically zero. In fact, as
the Reynolds number increases the integral of the turbulent charge over the radial distance is
not only a very small number (small with respect to the maximum of the distribution) but it
also decreases. To be more specic, the four cases in gure 2.1 refer to a large-scale straining
rate equal to 1, and a ratio of circulation over kinematic viscosity equal to 4, for all four
viscosities. The latter had the following values 0.0001, 0.001, 0.005, and 0.01. The averaged
values of the turbulent charge, corresponding to these values of kinematic viscosity, are
-7.565E-4, -2.365E-3, -5.273E-3, and -7.451E-3, respectively. Moreover, it is clearly shown,
23
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
0.02 0.02
0 0
-0.02 -0.02
Charge -0.04 -0.04
-0.06 -0.06
-0.08 -0.08
-0.1 -0.1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
X
Figure 2.1: The distribution of the turbulent charge for a Burgers' vortex as a function
of the radial distance. We show four dierent distributions that correspond to four cases
with dierent kinematic viscosities but they are otherwise identical. The square symbols
(2) correspond to = 0:01, the triangles (4) correspond to = 0:001, the circles ()
correspond to = 0:005, and the diamonds (3) correspond to = 0:0001.
in the same gure, that for higher Reynolds numbers the width of the turbulent charge
distribution decreases, according to the decrease of the vortex radius. Thus, ows that
consist of an ensemble of these vortices will have a vanishing turbulent charge distribution
after averaging over distances on the order of the Kolmogorov scale, and they will form an
appropriate physical setting of homogeneous turbulence.
We can now proceed with the averaging of the equations (2.3), (2.2), (2.5), and (2.13).
The large-scale Lamb and vorticity eld quantities L and W will be dened as the averages
of the small-scale elds l and w, i.e. L hl(x t)i W hw(x t)i. Hereafter, we will
make the convention of denoting the average of a quantity by capitalizing the variable's
name. Then, the two homogeneous equations (2.2) and (2.3), after ltering, become
rW = 0 (2.20)
24
@ W = ;r L ; r r W : (2.21)
@t
On the other hand, the ltered inhomogeneous equations (2.5) and (2.13), after averaging,
become
r L = hn(x t)i (2.22)

@ L = hu2r wi ; hj(x t)i + r r L : (2.23)
@t
The above equations (2.20 { 2.22) are exact but the equation (2.23) is not exact# because
its viscous term was not derived from the Navier-Stokes in a rigorous manner whereas the
equations (2.20 { 2.22) are derived rigorously from the \background" equations (1.2) and
(1.3). The neglect of the second order viscous term, in the passage from equation (2.11)
to equation (2.13), is justied if we want to keep only rst order terms in inverse powers
of the Reynolds number. This implies that the Lamb vector should contain viscous eects
of the same magnitude as does the vorticity. In fact, the derivation of our nal equations
(2.20 { 2.23), can be obtained by simply demanding that the modied, viscous, equation for
the transport of the Lamb vector is the dual of the equation for the transport of vorticity.
This extended duality principle retains many properties of the Poincare symmetry group
and introduces viscosity not as a dissipative mechanism but as a dispersive mechanism (we
elaborate more on this in the next chapter).
At any rate, the equations (2.20 { 2.23) are not yet closed. In order to obtain a closed
system of equations, the following approximation needs to be introduced
hu2r wi = hu2ir W : (2.24)
On the basis of classical arguments, this approximation is reasonable since the energy
length scales dier drastically from the dissipation scales, for suciently high Reynolds
25
I
1.0 10
8.57143
7.14286
5.71429
4.28572
0.5
2.85714
1.42857
0
-1.42857
-2.85714
0.0
-4.28571
-5.71429
-7.14286
-8.57143
-0.5 -10
-1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
I1
1.0 10
8.57143
7.14286
5.71429
4.28572
0.5
2.85714
1.42857
0
-1.42857
-2.85714
0.0
-4.28571
-5.71429
-7.14286
-8.57143
-0.5 -10
-1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Figure 2.2: Comparison of the elds < u2 r w > and < u2 > r W in a channel ow
(Re = 5 000). The averaging is done along the streamwise direction.
number ows. Although a mathematical proof can not be given, evidence supporting the
validity of the above relation is provided by DNS results of homogeneous turbulence and of
turbulent channel ows# see for example gure (2.2). This approximation implies that the
kinetic energy is uncorrelated to the Laplacian of the velocity but it does not require that
the kinetic energy is constant (neither in space nor in time). Once this approximation has
been made and introduced in the equations, all the ows can be classied into two distinct
cases. The rst is the \homogeneous" case, where the turbulent sources vanish, and the
26
second is the \inhomogeneous" case, where the turbulent sources do not vanish.
The new equations in the homogeneous case read
rW = 0
@ W = ;r L ; r r W
@t
rL = 0
@ L = hu2ir W + r r L : (2.25)
@t
The rst of these equations merely states that the vorticity is the curl of a vector (i.e. the
velocity vector) whereas the third is a denition. These equations can be reduced in the
usual fashion into wave equations for the elds. In the homogeneous case, we take hu2i to be
equal to the square root of the total kinetic energy per unit mass and ltered volume. Then,
these equations can be solved both analytically and numerically for appropriate boundary
conditions# for instance, in a periodic cubic box.
In the case of inhomogeneous turbulence, the turbulent sources do not vanish, and our
ltered model equations have the following form
rW = 0
@ W = ;r L + r r W
@t
r L~ = N (x t)
@ L~ = hu2ir W
~ ; J(x t) + r r L : (2.26)
@t
The two new eld quantities L~ and W
~ are introduced for the sake of generality. They
represent the eect that the ltering of the turbulent sources introduces to the basic elds
L and W. It can be shown that their relation is given, in tensor notation, as follows
0 1
X @Q
L~ = L + 4 @P ; @x + : : :A

27
W~ = W ; 4 (M + : : :) :
the quantities P, M, Q (and similar higher order objects) represent the macroscopically
averaged turbulent charge dipole, vortex dipole, and turbulent charge quadrapole, and
higher moment densities of the particular turbulent ow. These moments are zero in the
case of the homogeneous system resulting in the simplication of the equations, as discussed
above. The relations used to give the elds L~ and W
~ in terms of the basic elds L and
W will be referred to as the constitutive relations of the particular ow conformation. The
simplest of all is a linear relation of the following type
L~ = L W
~ = W:
The constants and can be interpreted as the hydrodynamic analogues of the dielectric
and magnetic permeability constants, respectively. In the simplest cases they can be consid-
ered as scalars, whereas in general they will be second-order tensors re ecting the present
anisotropies. The determination of constitutive relations between the associated tilde-eld
quantities and the elds L and W can be either a subject of data analysis or it can be
asserted a priori and tested a posteriori.
The eld quantities L~ and W
~ are not necessary for simple cases, such as ows of a
homogeneous uid in ducts or over a vehicle. However, they can be important in cases
where the uid is made up of two or more constituents (e.g. a liquid lled with solid
particles or gas bubbles), cases where external body forces have many localized maxima in
an otherwise quiescent forcing background, or nally in cases where non-Newtonian uids
with large macromolecules are considered. For, in these cases, local elds and sources
will be associated with the additive particulates or external forcing distribution and their
contribution will alter the eect of averaging# especially when the size of the particulates
28
(whether solid particles, gas bubbles or polymer macromolecules) or the ne-structure size
of the forcing is comparable or larger then the length scale associated with the spatial
averaging. It is possible that, for simple geometrical congurations, these eects will be
amenable to an explicit calculation. Although we will not pursue such a task herein, we
should remark that research in this area (that spans a very wide spectrum of engineering
applications) can be advantageous since the general framework of the theory will remain
unchanged# unlike the situations that would result from such modications for any current
turbulent model available.
The boundary conditions (B.C.) associated with the above PDE system can be deduced
from the familiar integral equivalents of the proposed equations. For example, the B.C. on
the wall of a channel, for the normal components of L and W, will be
W n^ = 0
L~ n^ = 4
where n^ is a unit normal to the surface of the wall. In words, we ensure that the normal
component of vorticity W is continuous and the discontinuity of the normal component of
L~ at any point is equal to 4 times the surface charge density at that point.
For the tangential components, the B.C. will be
n^ L = 0
~ = p42 K
n^ W hu i
where K the surface current. It is understood that the surface current has only components
parallel to the surface at every point. The tangential component of L across the surface of
~ is discontinuous by an amount
the wall is continuous, while the tangential component of W
whose magnitude is equal to p4hu2 i times the magnitude of the surface current density and
29
whose direction is parallel to K n^ .
The model system (2.26) is a set of eight equations involving the components of the four
elds L, W, L~ and W
~ . When the constitutive relationships are dened, the description of
the turbulent sources renders the model equations a closed system of PDEs and essentially
achieves the transformation of the turbulence closure problem into a study of turbulent
sources for dierent geometries of interest. The most welcome features of the new equa-
tions, (2.25) and (2.26), are their linear (in terms of the vorticity and the Lamb vector)
structure and their resemblance to the equations that describe the electromagnetic eld in
vacuum. The former feature calls for an application of the superposition principle whereas
the latter can provide physical insight for many complicated cases of turbulent ows (if
an already examined electromagnetic problem exists). The superposition principle will be
most appropriate for the construction of solutions in complicated geometries by combining
solutions that are obtained in simpler geometries. For example, let us suppose that a DNS
study can give us the turbulent charge distribution for certain geometries, say over a at
or corrugated wall, and also the dependence of its magnitude on Reynolds number. Then
we can solve, only once, for these standardized cases and construct the solution of a more
general problem by making fair use of the superposition principle.
Chapter 3
Homogeneous Turbulence
Homogeneous turbulence is an intensively studied topic in turbulence theory, because the
theoretical analysis is facilitated signicantly by the assumptions that are associated with
this kind of ows. In this Chapter, we dene homogeneous turbulence in a way that encom-
passes the traditional denition but it is based entirely on the nature of the newly dened
turbulent sources. We show that the conventional DNS of homogeneous turbulence are,
indeed, homogeneous in the new sense, and that for channel and circular pipe ows the
region away from the walls can also be considered as being homogeneous. The new dual
symmetry of the proposed theory is stated explicitly. The DNS of homogeneous turbulence
are presented and their results are exploited for the analysis of the vorticity equation. The
eigenvalues of the latter are found to form a discrete set, which suggests that the phe-
nomenon of intermittency could be viewed as the manifestation of \jumps" between various
eigenstates. Lastly, the predicted waves are taken to form an ensemble of weakly interacting
waves. The theory of wave turbulence is invoked and it is shown that Kolmogorov solutions
can be obtained as universal solutions of the kinetic equation for the velocity correlator.
We will see taht this result presupposes a non-vanishing value of the kinematic viscosity.
30
31
3.1 Introduction
A turbulent velocity ow eld is typically considered as a continuous random function of
position and time 37]. This means that, although the detailed properties of turbulent
velocity or pressure signals do not appear to be predictable, their statistical properties can
be analyzed and reproduced. Since the early investigations of G. I. Taylor, it was clear
that an assumption regarding the averaged quantities at one point would greatly simplify
the mathematical analysis. The use of this assumption gave birth to the classical denition
of homogeneous turbulence: A turbulent motion whose average properties are invariant
under spatial translation. This type of homogeneous turbulence is an idealistic situation,
merely a mathematical construction. It requires that the space is innite { if it weren't, a
translation by a distance equivalent to the size of the spatial extension of the ow would
give dierent statistics { and thereby the kinetic energy is innite, as well. Nevertheless,
the concept is useful under the premise that ows which occur in nite volumes do exhibit
invariance of their statistics for lengths that are smaller than a characteristic length of the
ow domain. Several theoretical and numerical aspects of this problem have been studied
extensively in the past (4], 3]). These works serve as a point of reference and validation
for many approaches on turbulence. In the last decades, the focus of the studies made in
homogeneous turbulence was primarily the investigation of the small-scale structure and the
exploitation of the ideas rst introduced by Kolmogorov 38], 39] and Obukhov 40]. As far
as applications are concerned, the long-term scope of the modern studies is the employment
of this knowledge to large eddy simulation (LES) schemes, and the improvement of our
understanding about \macroscopic" properties of turbulent ows that are not homogeneous.
Today, there is not a generally accepted theory of turbulence but there is a common
belief that a complete description of the turbulent motion should somehow rely, at least
32
partially, on experimental input. Thus, the main issue appears to be the choice of the
quantities that should be given in a turbulence theory. In the previous chapter we provided
a general framework for the turbulent motion of incompressible uids (hereafter referred to
as M98), in which the quantities to be prescribed as input have been dictated by the theory
itself and not through empirical observation. The basic equations of M98 predicate that
the averaged vorticity (W) and Lamb vector (L) satisfy the following system of equations
rW = 0
@ W = ;r L ; r r W
@t
rL = N
@ L = c2 r W ; J + r r L (3.1)
@t
where is the kinematic viscosity of the uid, and c2 =< u u >.
In the previous chapter, we have shown that the system of equations (3.1) is derived
from the Navier-Stokes equations under two assumptions. The
rst assumption is that
the following relationship holds
hu2 r wi hu2i r W : (3.2)
The physical interpretation of this assumption is that the most energetic scales are well
separated from the dissipative scales, and consequently the two terms in the product are
uncorrelated. It does not require that the kinetic energy is constant# neither in space nor in
time. The assumption has been shown to be valid for a turbulent channel ow (see gure
(2.2)). The validity of (3.2) depends, of course, on the Reynolds number but the dependence
is favorable for our results. For, it is an experimental fact that as the Reynolds number
increases the energetic scales become well separated from the dissipative scales 41].
33
The second assumption is related to the viscous terms in the evolution equation of
the Lamb vector. It is essentially an extended dual symmetry that is imposed in the
fundamental equations. This dual symmetry presents the dynamical evolution of the Lamb
vector as the dual equation of the vorticity evolution equation. This can best be illustrated
in the homogeneous case, by setting c2 = 1 and rewriting the second and fourth equation
of (3.1) as follows
@ X = ;r (Y + r X) (3.3)
@t
where if X = W then Y = L and = , whereas if X = L then Y = ;W and =
; . Therefore, as a conclusion we can state the following: The proposed equations are
approximate in the viscous case, but they present a dual symmetry that coincides with the
usual electromagnetic duality principle for = 0
the latter is very important since in the
inviscid case the equations are exact.
We will adopt a dierent denition of homogeneity that stems quite naturally from the
theory itself. That is, the adjective `homogeneous' will refer to the vanishing of the averaged
turbulent sources. Mathematically speaking this means
N hr l(x t) i = ;hr2 ! i = 0 (3.4)
and
J hun + r (u w)u + w r(! + u2) + 2(l r)u i = 0 : (3.5)
Despite the complex nonlinearities that occur in the expressions above, these conditions
have a clear physical meaning. They require that the averaged Bernoulli energy function
(i.e. h!i) arranges itself so as to average out the dierences imposed by the boundary
conditions. All signicant structures that are related to the dissipation of energy need to
be smaller than the lter length-scale, but there is no need for innite extent of the domain
34
under consideration, and therefore the kinetic energy is nite.
For instance, in the prototype case of shear turbulent ow in a duct (e.g. channel
ow and pipe ow), the central region of the duct can be considered homogeneous by
both denitions. This is well known in the classical case, where the adaptation of Taylor
hypothesis of `frozen convection' allows measurements that are taken from ducts (with a
grid of cylinders further upstream) to be used in the study of homogeneous and isotropic
turbulence. Nevertheless, under the new denition and from a purely mathematical point
of view this may not be obvious at all. The non-linearities in (2.10) are hard to interpret
outside the M98-frame. Thus, the claim that the two denitions should be compatible (in
such standard cases as the case of ow in the central region of ducts) needs some evidence
of support. This evidence is presented in Figure 3.1, where we show the turbulent sources
for the case of a channel ow 42] and the case of a pipe ow at Re = 3280 (for more
details on this DNS, see the next chapter) and Re = 3750, respectively. The characteristic
length for the case of the channel is half the height of the channel, whereas for the case
of the pipe the characteristic length is equal to its radius. For both channel and pipe the
characteristic velocity is the centerline velocity. It should be clear from this gure that the
central region is practically of zero magnitude. Incidentally, we should emphasize that the
essential structure of the turbulent sources does not depend on the averaging
procedure. In order to prove this statement, we have averaged the turbulent sources in
the plot on the top of Figure 3.1, i.e. the channel data, along the homogeneous directions
(i.e. streamwise and spanwise) but we have not averaged the results of the pipe simulation
which are shown on the bottom of Figure 3.1. The striking similarity of their distributions
shows that the averaging merely subtracts the noise.
In turn, this suggests that the averaged velocity eld can, and in general will, have a
35
spatial variation while the turbulence is homogeneous# this is not possible in the classical
sense because that would destroy the invariance of the statistics for translations with length
comparable or larger than the lter length-scale. A turbulent ow that is homogeneous in
the classical sense it is also considered homogeneous in the new sense, as long as the lter
macroscale is suciently large to encompass a large number of turbulent charges of both
signs. Therefore, the vanishing of the turbulent sources allows a wider class of ows to be
considered as homogeneous. For instance, consider the ow motion that would result inside
a box, made of xed rigid walls, after a plane grid (that is initially parallel to one of the
sides) has been rapidly moved from one side to another, for a number of times. This uid
motion will denitely be turbulent, for a suciently violent motion of the grid that will
stir the uid and transmit to it a large portion of its energy. However, this motion will
not be homogeneous according to the old denition (due to the presence of the boundaries)
whereas it will be homogeneous according to the new denition. The same holds for the
uid motion that results in an otherwise ambient uid due to a rapid oscillation of a grid
somewhere inside the uid.
3.2 Direct numerical simulation and validation

The theory involves high-order derivatives of the velocity eld, that have not been calculated
in previous studies. Therefore we have constructed our own DNS data-base by employing
a standard pseudo-spectral method. Spectral methods have dominated the DNS of the last
twenty years, since they provide much higher accuracy than a nite-dierence method. In
particular, for the calculation of homogeneous turbulence, spectral methods are extremely
convenient since the transformation of the equations in Fourier space seems to be the most
natural choice of representation.
36
The numerical code solves the Navier-Stokes equations, in the rotational form, subject
to the incompressibility constraint. The calculation takes place in Fourier space and fast
Fourier transforms are used at each time step in order to calculate the non-linear terms.
Aliasing is not removed neither by using two shifted grids and a spherical truncation with
the proper radius 43] nor by using shifted grids on alternate evaluations 44]. Instead,
we have truncated the computational domain in Fourier space by the ratio 7=8. It has
been shown 45] that, if the numerical resolution is adequate, the results obtained with and
without aliasing do not dier signicantly.
The domain of integration is a cubic box of size L = 2 with periodic boundary con-
ditions, in all three coordinate directions. The grid points in physical space are located
at
xi = NL i yj = NL j zm = NL m (3.6)
where N is the number of grid points per direction and i j m = 1 2 : : : N . The wavenum-
bers of the Fourier space are given by
ki =
ni 2L (3.7)
where ni = 0 1 2 : : : N=2, for i = 1 2 3. The velocity eld u(x t) is represented by its

Fourier components uF (k t), and the transformations between physical and Fourier space
are given by
X
uF (k t) = N13 u(x t) exp(;j k x) (3.8)
x
and
X
u(x t) = uF (k t) exp(j k x) : (3.9)
k
Since the velocity eld is real, it follows that the complex conjugates of its Fourier compo-
nents uF (k t) are equal to uF (;k t) and therefore only one half of the Fourier components
37
need to be calculated.
The time advancement algorithm is the sti&y stable scheme introduced by Karniadakis
et al. 46]. This semi-implicit scheme allows third-order accuracy in time, and it has been
proved to work better for long-time integrations. The initial conditions chosen for the
velocity eld were of two types. The rst, type (I), refers to elds that are created by a
random number generator and are endowed with a specic energy spectrum. The latter is
determined by four coecients (c1, c2, c3 , and c4) in the following manner
E (k) = c1 kc2 exp(;c3 kc4 ) : (3.10)
The second, type (II), refers to elds that consist of a collection of Burgers vortices with
their axes distributed uniformly along all three coordinate directions. The dierent type of
initial conditions allows us to compare the initial transients related to the arbitrariness of
the initial elds. This is important in determining the early evolution of the decay, since
this requires an unbiased origin of time. The time domain for our results starts when two
simulations with dierent type of initial conditions begin to exhibit the same behavior and
concomitantly both the energy and the enstrophy decay. These criteria are sucient to
ensure that the eects of the initial transients disappear. The author did not nd this issue
addressed in the literature, despite the numerous DNS studies that are related to freely
decaying homogeneous turbulence (see, for example, 47]).
We have conducted several DNS studies over a wide range of the parameter space.
Herein, we present four representative cases. Table 3.2 provides information relevant to the
conditions under which the four DNS have been made.
We note that the new code was tested, for the accuracy of its results, by comparison
with the code used by Ruetsch & Maxey 48]. Both codes gave identical results for the
same initial conditions and long-time integrations. The spatial resolution, measured by
38
Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4
Symbol 2 4 3
N 64 64 96 128
Type of IC I II I I
c1 0.8 | 0.8 0.02
c2 0.5 | 0.5 4.0
c3 -1.2 | -1.2 -1.5
c4 1.0 | 1.0 2.0
0.01 0.005 0.01 0.01
Re 46 { 13 60 { 17 67 { 16 61 { 11
Table 3.1: The above values describe the initial congurations and give the range of Re
for the four runs.
the value of kmax

(where kmax is the maximum wavenumber of the simulation, and
the
Kolmogorov length scale, i.e.
( 3 =)1=4), is shown in Figure 3.2 as a function of time.
At rst glance, run 2 appears to be under-resolved, but it is more likely that kmax
is not a
very good resolution measure for the initial conditions of type (II). This is so, because the
latter are by construction well-resolved despite the low value of kmax
. Thus, all the four
simulations that we present herein are well-resolved.
The code enforces the vanishing of the zeroth Fourier component of the velocity eld
at each time step. This implies that the classical denition of homogeneity is satised
but, in general, the denition adopted in the new context may or may not be satised#
according to the lter length scale that is chosen. One may ponder, whether it would be
more appropriate to use a code that would create a homogeneous situation in the new sense,
instead of the classical sense. There are two reasons for our choice: The rst is the extra
computational cost involved in using charges with length scale that is small compared to the
lter microscale and, at the same time, use a lter microscale much smaller than the size of
the box. The second aspect is the methodological inconsistency of using certain equations
to obtain results that will validate the equations themselves. From the algorithmic point of
39
view, the rst aspect admits as an easy remedy the type (II) of initial conditions. That is, we
can initialize the ow eld by lling the box with small vortex tubes placed suciently far
the one from the other { far with respect to their own characteristic diameter { rather than
starting from a random initial condition, which has an arbitrary distribution of charges.
These tubes have been chosen to be local solutions of the Navier-Stokes (Burgers vortices)
although this is not necessary. This results in an initial distribution of charges with small
characteristic length# the smallness being relative to the dimensions of the computational
domain. Hence, if we choose our lter scale to be suciently large compared to the charges,
so that the number of the positive charges inside the averaging volume is approximately
equal to the number of the negatives, then the initial velocity eld satises the new denition
of homogeneity. Moreover, run 2 (see Table 3.2) has shown that homogeneity and isotropy
(measured by the total amount of kinetic energy in each direction) are preserved during the
ow decay, to a satisfactory degree.
On the top of Figure 3.3 we show the spatial structure of the turbulent charge, at an
intermediate stage of the decay (Re = 20). The data are those of run 4 (see Table 3.2), the
values have been normalized by the maximum value of the eld, and only one fourth of the
computational domain is shown. There is a denite relationship between these structures
and the small-scale vortex tubes that have been reported in other studies (for a recent
account, see 49]). However, the point that we want to make here is the following: through
observation of these structures it is clear that a spatial average around them will result
in a cancelation of the negative charge from the positive \cloud" of charge that surrounds
it. The positive charge is of smaller magnitude but it covers a much larger region. If we
add a few more contours of lower magnitude the tubes of negative charge will be covered
by \clouds" of positive charge that surrounds them (compare these observations with the
40
calculated distributions of the turbulent charge for the Burgers vortices). On the bottom
of Figure 3.3 we show the result of the spatial averaging when the lter length scale equals
approximately two Kolmogorov length scale units. The only reminiscence of the previous
structure is the two blobs of positive and negative turbulent charge, whose magnitudes is less
than 1% of the unaveraged eld and whose spatial extent is roughly the same. Unlike the
vorticity tube-like structures, the dynamical signicance of the turbulent charge structures
(shown in Figure 3.3) is given explicitly in the context of proposed theory.
3.3 Signal analysis of the vorticity

In this section we perform a signal (i.e. time-history) analysis of mean ow quantities for
homogeneous turbulence. Let us rst average the Navier-Stokes equation, and then average
the equation that results from taking its derivative with respect to time. In the latter
equation, we substitute the time derivative of the averaged Lamb vector with the fourth
equation of the system (3.1), and we substitute the time derivative of the averaged vorticity,
in the dissipation term of the Navier-Stokes, with the second equation of the system (3.1).
The result of these substitutions gives the following equation
@ 2U = ;c2r W + J ; r r L (3.11)
@t2

;r @@t! ; r (;r L ; r r W) :
Hence, due to the cancelation of the third and fth term, we obtain the following equation
for the averaged velocity eld U
@ 2U = c2r2U + J ; r @ ! + 2r4 U : (3.12)

@t2 @t
41
If we decompose J into its longitudinal (irrotational) part (Jl ) and its transverse (solenoidal)
part (Jt ), i.e.
J = Jl + Jt
then it can be shown that
@!
Jl = r @t :
Therefore, the equation for the averaged velocity reads
@ 2U = c2r2U + 2 r4 U + J (3.13)
@t2 t
which is a wave equation with a forcing term exclusively expressed in terms of the turbulent
sources. Now, according to our denition of homogeneity, we have N = 0 and J = 0, thus
we nally get
@ 2U = c2r2 U + 2r4U : (3.14)
@t2
It follows that the equation for the averaged vorticity eld is given by a similar equation
@ 2W = c2r2W + 2 r4W : (3.15)
@t2
Due to the linear form of these equations, each direction is uncoupled from the others and
we can therefore drop the vectorial notation.
Since we can take the Fourier transform of the above equations and obtain a single ODE
in time, for each Fourier coecient of vorticity, the solutions of this ODE can be directly
compared with the signals, i.e. time-histories, obtained by DNS. The Fourier transform of
equation (3.15) is
@ 2 Wk + (c2k2 ; 2k4 ) W = 0 (3.16)
@t2 k
where Wk is the Fourier image of any of the vorticity components with wavenumber k.
The kinematic viscosity can be considered as a constant, and thus the temporal behavior
42
of vorticity is essentially determined by the dependence of c on time. Equation (3.16),
2
with c2 an arbitrary function of time, can be prohibitively dicult to solve in terms of

simple functions or a Frobenius series with explicitly known coecients, but it is exactly
solvable whenever c2 (t) is a special function of t. Exactly solvable cases include the following
functions
c2 (t) / t;1
c2 (t) / t;2
c2 (t) / t2
or a combination of the above, as well as more complicated functions such as
c2(t) / (e;2t ; e;t ) :
The list is not exhaustive but rather indicative of what sort of functions give an exact
analytical solution.
On the other hand, the DNS results show that the decay of c2 , as a function of t given
by
c2 (t) = a0 + t + t2 (3.17)
represents well all our DNS data and it can be thought of as another tting form than the
power law models ( i.e. c2 (t) / t; ) that are found in the literature (see, for example, 47]
and references therein). This is shown clearly in Figure (3.4), where we plot the energy
versus t;1 , for run 4, and two tting curves to it. The rst is a power law type of decay,
whereas the second is a polynomial of second order (in powers of inverse time). It is clear
that the polynomial of second order is a better representation of the recorded values than
the power law. Table 3.3 reports the values of the coecients for each tting curve and
for all runs. As the polynomial order increases the tting becomes better but an analytical
43
Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4
Symbol 2 4 3
1.16 1.36 1.59 1.46
a0 -0.0375 -0.0671 -0.2511 -0.0754
1.03659 1.4010 3.0992 2.0748
-0.0241 -0.0098 -0.0468 0.1193
Table 3.2: The coecients of the power laws and the coecients of the polynomial ttings
for the four runs.
solution is not feasible anymore. This is to be expected, of course, since a polynomial tting
in inverse powers of time is essentially a Taylor series expansion around zero. We neglect
the coecient a0 from the subsequent analysis, since its eect can always be calculated
later, but we do report its value for completeness. The presence and the non-zero value of
a0 simply re ects the fact that our calculations have a nite length# if they did not, then
c2(t) goes to zero as t goes to innity, and thereby the value of a0 becomes zero.
The exact values of and depend on the particular time interval that we examine. If
we x the time interval the values of these parameters are not the same for dierent runs#
a situation similar to the absence of an unequivocally accepted value of . Our simulations
are unique, in the sense that we include two dierent types of initial conditions. This allows
us to examine whether dierent initial conditions can aect the decay of c2 . In fact, we
found that the initial period of decay has an entirely dierent behavior for the two dierent
types of initial conditions. Here, we will not elaborate further on this point since we are
merely seeking a good representation of how c2 decays within a desirable interval of time.
The polynomial model of the energy decay is valid for a time interval that is broader than
the domain where the power law is valid.
We will now write equation (3.16) in the more abstract form
D Wk = 0 (3.18)
44
where the D operator is given by
@ 2 + (c2(t)k2 ; 2 k4) :
D = @t 2
If Wk is given at two time instances, then the D operator describes how the turbulent
ow quantities will decay in time. One initial condition is the initial value of each Fourier
coecient. The other condition involved simply requires that everything should decay to
zero for t ! 1. The D operator is a Schr%odinger operator, and it is well known that every
Schr%odinger problem is associated with a Sturm-Liouville problem 32]. This means that
the theory naturally provides a basis of temporal eigenfunctions, which can be used in the
description of the decay process. Thus, it is reasonable to express an arbitrary experimental
signal Wkexp in terms of the eigenfunctions of D and write
X
Wkexp = cnWk(n) (3.19)
n
where the Wk(n) are given as the solutions of
DWk(n) = (kn)Wk(n) : (3.20)
Without loss of generality, we can choose the following conditions for our problem
i i
Wk(n) (t=0)
= 0 Wk
(n)
(t!1)
=0:
Then, it is a simple matter to show that D is Hermitian.

Let us now proceed with the analysis by solving the above eigenvalue problem, as it is
stated in equation (3.20), for the case of freely decaying homogeneous turbulence. We have
d2Wk(n) + k + k ; ^ (n) W (n) = 0 (3.21)
dt2 t t2 k k
where c2(t) has been assumed to take the form (3.17). Thus, the values of k and k are
related to the and , respectively, by the following formulas
k = k2 k = k2 :
45
Another special case of time dependency for c that has been observed experimentally (50]#
2
51]), is the so-called linear decay law. The linear law of decay appears as a special case of
our model, by setting = 0 in (3.17). We adopt this decay law only because, in the context
of our analysis, the eigenfunctions take on very simple expressions and provide the ground
for an exact analytical treatment.
A last simplication in (3.21) is the lumping of the eigenvalue with the viscous term,
i.e.
^ (kn) = (kn) + 2 k4 : (3.22)
The rst step towards the solution of (3.21) is a transformation of the dependent variable.
In particular, the idiosyncrasy of (3.21) is that we demand the solution to vanish at the end
of an interval where the points are singular. This problem is usually solved by the removal
of the asymptotic behavior of the solution at innity. If we let time to approach innity,
then (3.21) reads
# i
d2Wk(n) ; ^
(n) (n)
dt2 t!1 k k t!1 = 0 :
W (3.23)
Equation (3.23) has solutions that vanish at innity only when ^ (kn) > 0, so we will set (kn) =
(k(n))2 > 0, which according to (3.22) ensures that ^ (kn) > 0. On physical grounds, this is
quite reasonable. D is the operator that describes the decay process, and its eigenvalues
should have the same eect on the system as does the viscosity, at least for the large scale
motions. In that sense, the eigenvalues of D are a type of generalized viscosity for the
system, and the k 's dened above are the dynamic equivalent of the term k2 .
We come next to the already mentioned transformation. By keeping a consistent nota-
tion, we set
^k(n) = (^k(n))2 (3.24)

Analogy Between The Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic Equations - Application To Turbulence

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Analogy Between The Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic Equations - Application To Turbulence

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Analogy between the Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic

Equations: Application to Turbulence

Recommended to the Graduate Council

Approved by the Graduate Council

1. Marmanis, H. and Thoroddsen, S.T. 1996

A list of conferences, and symposia, attended reads as follows:

2. Marmanis H. and Thoroddsen S. T. 1996

3. Marmanis H. and Karniadakis G. 1997

4. Crawford C., Marmanis H. and Karniadakis G. 1998

5. Marmanis H., Du Y. and Karniadakis G. 1998

2 The General Theory 14

4.1 The non-dimensional turbulent current J~z , as calculated by (4.6), versus y + .

Euler's dynamical equations of motion can be written in the following form

It is customary to present the above equation in a nondimensional form by introducing a

1.2 The basic eld variables: Vorticity and Lamb's vector

1.3 An outline of the thesis

The General Theory

Hence, it follows that we can rewrite equation (2.1) as

r  l(x t) = ;r2 ! (2.4)

r  l(x t) = ;r2 !  n(x t) : (2.5)

l = ; @@tu ; r! + r2u : (2.7)

If we take the time derivative of both sides of (2.7), we can write

j = un + r (u  w)u + w r(! + u2) + 2(l  r)u : (2.10)

@ l = u2r w ; j + r(;r2 !) ; r2 l + 2 r4u : (2.11)

@ l = u2r w ; j + rn(x t) ; r2l (2.12)

2.2 The new equations

Electromagnetism Turbulent Hydrodynamics

where f (x) is real, nonnegative, nonzero in some neighborhood of x = 0, and normalized

where the magnitude of a is of the order of

Charge -0.04 -0.04

r  L = hn(x t)i (2.22)

hu2r wi = hu2ir W : (2.24)

hu2 r wi hu2i r W : (3.2)

N  hr  l(x t) i = ;hr2 ! i = 0 (3.4)

3.2 Direct numerical simulation and validation

where ni = 0 1 2 : : : N=2, for i = 1 2 3. The velocity eld u(x t) is represented by its

E (k) = c1 kc2 exp(;c3 kc4 ) : (3.10)

the value of kmax

3.3 Signal analysis of the vorticity

@ 2U = c2r2U + J ; r  @ !  + 2r4 U : (3.12)

with c2 an arbitrary function of time, can be prohibitively dicult to solve in terms of

or a combination of the above, as well as more complicated functions such as

c2(t) / (e;2t ; e;t ) :

DWk(n) = (kn)Wk(n) : (3.20)

Then, it is a simple matter to show that D is Hermitian.

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r l(x t) = ;r2 ! (2.4)

r l(x t) = ;r2 ! n(x t) : (2.5)

j = un + r (u w)u + w r(! + u2) + 2(l r)u : (2.10)

r L = hn(x t)i (2.22)

N hr l(x t) i = ;hr2 ! i = 0 (3.4)

where ni = 0 1 2 : : : N=2, for i = 1 2 3. The velocity eld u(x t) is represented by its

@ 2U = c2r2U + J ; r @ ! + 2r4 U : (3.12)

with c2 an arbitrary function of time, can be prohibitively dicult to solve in terms of

DWk(n) = (kn)Wk(n) : (3.20)