Scaling and Dynamics of Boundary Layer Turbulence

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PROPOSAL NO.: CTS-0407932PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: JOSEPH C. KLEWICKIINSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF UTAHSCALING AND DYNAMICS OF BOUNDARY LAYER TURBULENCEThe proposed research is motivated by the direct empirical observations derived from measurements at very high Reynolds number at the Surface Layer Turbulence and Environmental Science Test (SLTEST) facility in Utah's west desert, and upon the newly developed theoretical foundation for turbulent wall flow based directly on the properties of the mean momentum equation. With regard to both of these, a central technical theme has been the understanding and characterizing behavior of the motions involved in generating Reynolds stress gradients. With the new insights derived from this information, a set of experiments were designed to address fundamental unresolved issues concerning wall turbulence, as follows: 1) the inner/outer interaction, 2) the connections between coherent motion dynamics and mean momentum transport, and 3) the connections between mean flow structure and the scaling of turbulence quantities. The effort will focus on the latter item with a primary component devoted to further measurements at the SLTEST facility. The greatest impact of the newly developed theory will most likely be related to an improved capacity to scale turbulence statistics. Experiments at the SLTEST facility have very broad and long-term impact. The breadth stems from the efforts of the PI to encourage others to join the yearly field experiments, and thus gain a high level of efficiency relating to both the technical benefits associated with collaborations, and in terms of high research productivity. The long-term impact derives from the fact that the facility offers unique capabilities to produce well-resolved turbulence measurements at high Reynolds numbers which are unavailable in any current laboratory facility. In addition to graduate student researchers, the PI anticipates involving undergraduate students funded under the REU program. Undergraduates have proven to be an especially important component to the yearly field trial research effort. The results will be disseminated and widely accessible to the research community via a web site developed under an NSF ITR grant.