On the evolution of a vortical motion in a turbulent fluid

A model turbulence field consisting of essentially discrete but interacting eddies is presented. The development of a single eddy is described by considering its interaction with the remainder of the turbulence field. Vortex line stretching is found to produce initially an increase in the mean square vorticity of the eddy. Consideration of the decay rate of vorticity suggests that the rate of dissipation of turbulent energy per unit mass depends weakly upon the Reynolds number of the turbulence.