Coherent structures in the far field of a turbulent wake

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The topology of a typical group of large‐scale coherent structures in the far‐field of a slightly heated cylinder wake is clearly delineated by using averages of the velocity vector components conditioned on the occurrence of spatially coherent temperature fronts. Velocities are determined relative to a frame of reference traveling with the approximate convection velocity of the structures. When the results for a number of positions across the wake are assembled a clear topology picture of a typical group of structures in the plane of the main shear is obtained. The contributions of the coherent and random motions of all structures to the momentum and heat transports have been determined. In all cases the contribution that results from the random motion is larger than that of the coherent motion. This difference is more pronounced for the momentum transport than for the lateral heat transport.