Canonical Turbulence Theory

Abstract: A theoretical analysis is presented for turbulent flows, applicable for canonical (channel, boundary-layer and free jet) geometries. Momentum and energy balance for a control volume moving at the local mean velocity decouples the fluctuation from the mean velocities, resulting in a symmetric set of transport equations for the Reynolds normal and shear stresses. In this formalism, gradients of the fluctuating velocities represent flux vectors, easily verifiable using the available DNS data. A derivative of this transport concept is the scaling for the Reynolds stresses in the dissipation space. Combining with the statistical energy distribution function, a full prescription of turbulent flows is enabled in the basic canonical geometries. Based on this theoretical foundation, more complex flow configurations may be addressed with far more efficient algorithms.