Turbulent flows at very large Reynolds numbers: new lessons learned

Abstract

The universal (Reynolds-number-independent) von Kármán- Prandtl logarithmic law for the velocity distribution in the basic intermediate region of a turbulent shear flow is generally considered to be one of the fundamental laws of engineering science and is taught universally in fluid mechanics and hydraulics courses. We show here that this law is based on an assumption that cannot be considered to be correct and which does not correspond to experiment. Nor is Landau's derivation of this law quite correct. In this paper, an alternative scaling law explicitly incorporating the influence of the Reynolds number is discussed, as is the corresponding drag law. The study uses the concept of intermediate asymptotics and that of incomplete similarity in the similarity parameter. Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich played an outstanding role in the development of these ideas. This work is a tribute to his glowing memory. © 2014 Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk, Russian Academy of Sciences.