The rise and fall of ideas in turbulence (review of progress in turbulent flow research)

Progress and shortcomings in turbulence research are discussed. The theory accounting for laminar instability is considered, noting that it contributed to turbulence only a necessary but not a sufficient initial condition. The theory of homogeneous turbulence is taken into account, indicating that i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American scientist 1979-03, Vol.67, p.221-228
Main Author: Liepmann, H W
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Progress and shortcomings in turbulence research are discussed. The theory accounting for laminar instability is considered, noting that it contributed to turbulence only a necessary but not a sufficient initial condition. The theory of homogeneous turbulence is taken into account, indicating that it does not lead to decisive progress in coping with the shear flow and general mixing problems. Turbulence modeling with the aid of computers is examined, emphasizing the approaches based on the actual equations of motion, and on model equations imitating the essential features of turbulence. Also examined are various theories relating to coherent structures concept, concluding that the relevant flow-visualization method is now used mainly to establish the overall topology of the flow.
ISSN:0003-0996