Average turbulence dynamics from a one-parameter kinetic theory

Abstract: We show theoretically that the mean turbulent dynamics can be described by a kinetic theory representation with a single free relaxation time that depends on space and time. A proper kinetic equation is constructed from averaging the Klimontovich-type equation for fluid elements satisfying the Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics exactly. The turbulent kinetic energy plays the role of temperature in standard molecular thermodynamics. We show that the dynamics of turbulent fluctuations resembles a collision process that asymptotically drives the mean distribution towards a Gaussian (Maxwell-Boltzmann) equilibrium form. Non-Gaussianity arises directly from non-equilibrium shear effects. The present framework overcomes the bane of most conventional turbulence models and theoretical frameworks arising from the lack of scale separation between the mean and fluctuating scales of the Navier-Stokes equation with an eddy viscous term. An averaged turbulent flow in the present framework behaves more like a flow of finite Knudsen number with finite relaxation time, and is thus more suitably described in a kinetic theory representation.