You didn't see it coming: New research shows turbulent flows can be caused by minute triggers
We experience turbulence every day: a gust of wind, water gushing down a river, or mid-flight bumps on an airplane.
Turbulence as a research area investigates the physics, modeling, and prediction of highly irregular, vortical fluid motion characterized by strong nonlinearity, multiscale interactions, and enhanced mixing and dissipation. It encompasses theoretical analysis of the Navier–Stokes equations, development of turbulence closures and reduced-order models, and statistical descriptions such as energy spectra and intermittency. The field spans direct numerical simulations, large-eddy and Reynolds-averaged approaches, and experimental diagnostics to study transition to turbulence, coherent structures, and cascade processes in gases and liquids, with applications ranging from aerodynamics and geophysical and astrophysical flows to engineering systems, combustion, and environmental fluid mechanics.
We experience turbulence every day: a gust of wind, water gushing down a river, or mid-flight bumps on an airplane.
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