The transition to turbulence
Abstract
Flow regimes and three unstable flows - circular Couette flow, Karman vortex street, and Rayleigh-Benard instability - are described, and experimental optical and computer techniques used to characterize these unstable flows are surveyed. The laser Doppler technique is explained. A theoretical analysis of stability is presented, the causes of the initiation of turbulence are considered, and finite models are examined.
- Publication:
-
Physics Today
- Pub Date:
- August 1978
- Bibcode:
- 1978PhT....31g..41S
- Keywords:
-
- Couette Flow;
- Flow Stability;
- Karman Vortex Street;
- Laser Doppler Velocimeters;
- Rayleigh Number;
- Transition Flow;
- Turbulent Flow;
- Benard Cells;
- Convective Flow;
- Hot-Wire Anemometers;
- Hydrodynamic Equations;
- Mathematical Models;
- Nonlinear Systems;
- Power Spectra;
- Reynolds Number;
- Velocity Distribution;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer