Validity of Taylor's dissipation-viscosity independence postulate in variable-viscosity turbulent fluid mixtures

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 101; no. 7; p. 074501
• Main Authors: Lee, Kurnchul, Girimaji, Sharath S, Kerimo, Johannes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15-08-2008
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.074501

G. I. Taylor's postulate [Proc. R. Soc. A 151, 421 (1935)] that dissipation is independent of viscosity at high Reynolds numbers is the foundation of many single-fluid turbulence theories and closure models. The validity of this key postulate in an important class of flows, turbulent mixtures, is not yet clearly established. We devise a simple numerical experiment of decaying turbulence in a mixture of two fluids of vastly different viscosities to examine dissipation scaling. Initially, the two fluids are segregated, and dissipation is directly proportional to viscosity. As turbulence evolves and fluids mix, the velocity gradients rapidly adapt to the viscosity field, and within one-half eddy turnover time, dissipation-viscosity independence is established. Viscosity-weighted velocity-gradient skewness is shown to be constant, leading to the validity of Taylor's postulate in turbulent mixtures.