Description of Turbulence

Basics of Turbulent Flows – Lesson 3

Main Properties of Turbulence
• While it may be difficult to give a concise and precise definition of turbulence, there
are several characteristics common to all turbulent flows:
‐ Irregularity (aperiodicity)
• All turbulent flows are characterized by irregular, random fluctuations of fluid dynamic fields in space and time.
‐ Diffusive nature
• This important feature of turbulent flows is a result of rapid mixing and increased transport of momentum, heat and
scalar (species) as compared to laminar flows.
• Turbulent transport velocities and mixing rates are typically orders of magnitude larger than those of molecular transport.
▪ An irregular flow cannot be considered turbulent if it lacks transport of fluctuations (e.g., velocity). An aircraft jet contrail several miles
downstream is an example of such irregular non-turbulent flow.

Irregular but not

turbulent in
absence of
Turbulent transport

2
Main Properties of Turbulence (cont.)
• High Reynolds number
‐ As was discussed in the previous lesson, transition to turbulence required flow instabilities which occur at high
Reynolds numbers
• Three-dimensional nature of turbulent eddies
‐ Turbulence is intrinsically a 3D phenomenon represented by high levels of vorticity fluctuations. This is why
vorticity dynamics play an important role in understanding turbulence.
• Dissipation
‐ Turbulence is always dissipative. Viscous stresses do deformation work on the fluid which increases its internal
energy at the expense of kinetic energy of turbulence. As a result, turbulence requires a continuous supply of
energy to compensate for its dissipation, or it quickly decays.
• Continuum
‐ The smallest turbulent scales are still much larger than the scales of molecular motion, and turbulence is
normally investigated under the assumption of continuum.
• Turbulence is a property of fluid motion and not a physical property
‐ Turbulent dynamics will be the same for fluids with different properties under the same Reynolds number.

3
Unsteady Turbulent Flow Field
• Turbulent flows are inherently unsteady!
• Measurements of flow variables (velocity,
pressure, temperature) in a turbulent flow field
display random fluctuations over a range of
scales.
• More coherent (regular) structures emerge at
larger scales and are governed by the flow
geometry. These structures can be essentially
stationary in time.
‐ Example: Flow behind a backward-facing step
• The idea that large scale flow structures are stable 𝑢𝑖 𝑥, Ԧ 𝑡 + 𝑢𝑖′ 𝑥,
Ԧ 𝑡 = 𝑈𝑖 𝑥, Ԧ 𝑡
and time-invariant leads to the concept of
decomposing a turbulent flow into the sum of
two fields: Turbulent Coherent Random
‐ Steady or slowly time-varying coherent flow. Field Quasi-Steady Unsteady
‐ Unsteady, random, higher frequency time-varying flow Field Field

4
Vortex Stretching
• Vortex intensification by the mechanism of its stretching is fundamental for our qualitative
understanding of turbulence, as all turbulent flows have high levels of fluctuating vorticity.
• The governing equation for the vorticity vector can be easily derived by applying the curl operator to
Navier-Stokes equations. In its component form it can be written as:
𝜕𝜔𝑖 𝜕𝜔𝑖 𝜕 2 𝜔𝑖 1 𝜕𝑢𝑖 𝜕𝑢𝑗
+ 𝑢𝑗 = 𝜔𝑗 ∙ 𝑠𝑖𝑗 + 𝜈 𝑠𝑖𝑗 = + − strain rate tensor
𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝑗 2 𝜕𝑥𝑗 𝜕𝑥𝑖
• The term 𝜔𝑗 ∙ 𝑠𝑖𝑗 represents intensification and rotation of the
vorticity vector under the action of deformation strain.
• Hence vorticity will intensify and stretch if 𝑠𝑖𝑗 > 0, and weaken
and compress if 𝑠𝑖𝑗 < 0.
• Under large Reynolds numbers viscous diffusion is small, and the
non-linear term 𝜔𝑗 ∙ 𝑠𝑖𝑗 describing interaction of vorticity with
velocity gradients can change an initially simple 3D vorticity
structure into a very complex distribution of vorticity! Vortex stretching in
a contraction

5
Turbulence Scales
• Turbulent flows are characterized by the presence of turbulent motions of different scales
which play specific roles in describing and analyzing turbulent structures.
• There is a wide spectrum of linear scales (“eddies” of various sizes) in a turbulent flow. The
upper bound of this spectrum is the characteristic length of the turbulent flow domain and
the lower bound is defined by the diffusion effect of molecular viscosity.
• For example, in a turbulent boundary layer, which we will discuss in more detail in a later
lesson, the largest scale will be its thickness, and the smallest scale will be a very thin near-
wall region dominated by viscous forces.

6
Large Scales
• Turbulent eddies inside the layer transport momentum deficit some distance away from the surface,
thus the layer thickness grows as: 𝑑𝛿 Τ𝑑𝑡 ∝ 𝑢ො (𝑢ො - root-mean-square of turbulent velocity fluctuations
averaged over the boundary layer thickness).
• The convection time scale of meanflow is 𝑙/𝑉∞ , and we can derive an estimate by equating “diffusion”
(𝛿 Τ𝑢)
ො and convection time scale as:
𝛿 Τ𝑢ො ∝ 𝑙 Τ𝑉∞
• The turbulent time scale of large structures (eddies) is then given
as:
𝑡𝑙 ∝ 𝑙 Τ𝑉∞ Large eddy turnover time

• The length scale of large eddies is on the order of meanflow scales

(boundary layer or shear layer thickness).
• This estimate is made under the fundamental assumption that turbulence has a time scale comparable
with the time scale of the mean flow.
• Small-scale turbulent structures, however, do not possess such a large time scale. Their time scales are
much smaller and their statistically averaged properties tend to be statistically independent from
averaged mean flow.

7
Energy Cascade
• Large eddies are responsible for transporting scalar properties of the fluid flow field, and
with them they carry the energy extracted from the meanflow.
• Smaller eddies are being stretched by the strain induced by the large eddies, which increases
their vorticity, and, as a result, their energy also increases by deriving energy from the large
eddies.
• This describes the process of energy cascade from large eddies to smaller eddies.
• On the micro-scale, however, molecular viscosity Input of energy at

Turbulence Kinetic Energy per

starts to diffuse turbulent velocity fluctuations, thus largest scales
preventing generation of infinitely small eddies by
stretching those eddies into the molecular motion.

eddy size
• Richardson (1922) jokingly rephrased Jonathan Swift’s Viscous dissipation
verse to describe this process: dominates
“Big whirls have little whirls,
Which feed on their velocity,
And little whirls have lesser whirls, Large Medium Small
And so onto viscosity.” Eddies Eddies Eddies

8
Small Scales
• Our understanding of small scales of turbulence is based on the following considerations:
‐ Small eddies tend to have small time scales associated with their rotational frequency, and they can
be assumed to be statistically independent from large energy-carrying eddies.
‐ As a result, the dynamics of small eddies depends on: 1) rate of their energy supply by large eddies,
and 2) molecular viscosity.
‐ In equilibrium, the rate of energy supply is balanced by the rate of energy dissipation.
• These observations laid the foundation to Kolmogorov’s theory of locally isotropic turbulence.
• From these considerations, parameters determining dynamics of small eddies must include: 1)
dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, 𝜀 (𝑚2 Τ𝑠 3 ) and 2) kinematic viscosity of the fluid, 𝜈.
• Using these parameters, small scales for length, time and velocity, also known as Kolmogorov scales,
can be formed as:
𝜂 = 𝜈 3 Τ𝜀 1Τ4 length scale 𝜂𝑣
1 Τ 2 𝑅𝑒 = = 1.0
𝜏 = 𝜈Τ𝜀 time scale
𝜈
𝑣 = 𝜈 𝜀 1Τ4 velocity scale
• The Reynolds number constructed from these scales is unity, implying the small scale motion is quite
viscous, and the viscous dissipation adjusts to the amount of supplied energy.

9
Estimation of Dissipation of Turbulent Energy
• According to Kolmogorov’s theory, the three energy rates of the turbulent energy
cascade, are equal:
‐ Rate of energy supplied by meanflow to energy-carrying large eddies.
‐ Rate of energy transferred from large eddies to dissipating small eddies.
‐ Rate of energy dissipated by small eddies.
• The rate of kinetic energy supplied by large eddies can be estimated as: 𝑢ො 2 / (𝑙 Τ𝑢).
ො
• As a result, viscous dissipation can be estimated as:
𝜀 ~ ෝ𝑢3 / 𝑙
• This estimate is a cornerstone of the turbulence theory which will be relying upon in
deriving governing equations for turbulent flows.
• It is commonly presented in terms of turbulent kinetic energy defined as:
1 ′2
𝑘 ≡ 𝑢 + 𝑣 ′2 + 𝑤 ′2 𝜀 ~ 𝑘 3/2 / 𝑙
2

10
Relationships Between Small and Large Scales
• Ratios between small and large scales are:
−3/4
𝜂 𝑢ො 𝑙 −3/4
= = 𝑅𝑒𝑙 time scale ratio
𝑙 𝜈
−1/2
𝜏 𝑢ො 𝑙 −1/2
= = 𝑅𝑒𝑙 length scale ratio
𝑙 Τ𝑢ො 𝜈
−1/4
𝑣 𝑢ො 𝑙 −1/4
= = 𝑅𝑒𝑙 velocity scale ratio
𝑢ො 𝜈

• They show the small scales are much smaller than large scales for large Reynolds
numbers.
• Thus, statistical independence of small eddies and the state of dynamic equilibrium will
be more obvious when 𝑅𝑒 is large.

11
Turbulence Energy Spectrum
• Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is distributed over eddies of different sizes (wavelengths, 𝜆).
∞
𝑘 = න 𝑒𝑘 𝜆 𝑑𝜆 where 𝑒𝑘 is the turbulent energy density
0

• Kolmogorov introduced the idea of inertial range of

TKE wavenumbers where the cascade of energy Energy
does not explicitly depend on either the production containing
of large eddies by mean flow or on the viscosity. eddies
Energy
slope=-5/3
• Thus, the TKE in the inertial range is a function of dissipating
eddies

log E(k)
the energy flux down the cascade, 𝜖, and the wave
number 𝜆. Kolmogorov
scale
• From the dimensional analysis in the inertial range: Inertial scale
Integral scale
𝑒𝑘 ∝ 𝜖 2/3 𝜆−5/3

log(2𝜋/𝜆)
12
Summary
• In this lesson, we qualitatively described main characteristics of turbulence and
looked into physics-based analysis of different scales in turbulent flows.
• We discussed the cascade of turbulent energy from large to small turbulent eddies,
and subsequent dissipation of energy by viscosity, which is fundamental to our
understanding of and our ability to derive physically sound models of turbulence.
• We will look at the derivation of governing equations for turbulence flows in the next
lesson.

13