Ilker: Created page with "{{DefineConcept |description=A brief description of turbulence. There is no formal definition of turbulence. Instead, it is described as a syndrome with key characteristics, w..."

2021-07-07T09:53:42Z

Created page with "{{DefineConcept |description=A brief description of turbulence. There is no formal definition of turbulence. Instead, it is described as a syndrome with key characteristics, w..."

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{{DefineConcept
|description=A brief description of turbulence. There is no formal definition of turbulence. Instead, it is described as a syndrome with key characteristics, which together, distinguish it from non-turbulent fluid motions.
|article_type=Fundamentals
}}
The key characteristics of turbulence are (Tennekes and Lumley, 1989);
* The flow is chaotic, or highly irregular, or random.
* The flow is rotational – it has three-dimensional vorticity.
* The flow is dissipative – kinetic energy is irreversibly lost through friction.
* The flow is diffusive – causing rapid mixing of fluid properties such as momentum, heat, and other scalar properties.
* The flow is non-linear and transports energy from large-scale eddies to small-scale eddies.
* The flow has a high Reynolds number.
* The flow is a continuum – the size of the smallest eddies is still many factors of 10 larger than any molecular length scale.

Turbulence is a characteristic of the ''flow'' and not the ''fluid''. There are non-turbulent flows that have some but not all of the above-listed characteristics. For example, surface wave can be highly irregular but the motions induced by surface gravity waves are irrotational.

Turbulence definition - Revision history

Ilker: Created page with "{{DefineConcept |description=A brief description of turbulence. There is no formal definition of turbulence. Instead, it is described as a syndrome with key characteristics, w..."