Lagrangian properties obtained from a Particle Tracking Velocimetry experiment in a turbulent flow at intermediate Reynolds number are presented. Accurate sampling of particle trajectories is essential in order to obtain the Lagrangian structure functions and to measure intermittency at small temporal scales. The finiteness of the measurement volume can bias the results significantly. We present a robust way to overcome this obstacle. Despite no fully developed inertial range we observe strong intermittency at the scale of dissipation. The multifractal model is only partially able to reproduce the results.
Using exact relations between velocity structure functions (Hill, Hill and Boratav, and Yakhot) and neglecting pressure contributions in a first approximation, we obtain a closed system and derive simple order-dependent rescaling relationships between longitudinal and transverse structure functions. By means of numerical data with turbulent Reynolds numbers ranging from $Re_lambda=320$ to $Re_lambda=730$, we establish a clear correspondence between their respective scaling range, while confirming that their scaling exponents do differ. This difference does not seem to depend on Reynolds number. Making use of the Mellin transform, we further map longitudinal to (rescaled) transverse probability density functions.
Since the famous work by Kolmogorov on incompressible turbulence, the structure-function theory has been a key foundation of modern turbulence study. Due to the simplicity of Burgers turbulence, structure functions are calculated to arbitrary orders, which provides numerous implications for other compressible turbulent systems. We present the derivation of exact forcing-scale resolving expressions for high-order structure functions of the burgers turbulence. Compared with the previous theories where the structure functions are calculated in the inertial range based on the statistics of shocks, our expressions link high-order structure functions in different orders without extra information on the flow structure and are valid beyond the inertial range, therefore they are easily checked by numerical simulations.
Based on direct numerical simulations with point-like inertial particles transported by homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flows, we present evidence for the existence of Markov property in Lagrangian turbulence. We show that the Markov property is valid for a finite step size larger than a Stokes number-dependent Einstein-Markov memory length. This enables the description of multi-scale statistics of Lagrangian particles by Fokker-Planck equations, which can be embedded in an interdisciplinary approach linking the statistical description of turbulence with fluctuation theorems of non-equilibrium stochastic thermodynamics and fluctuation theorems, and local flow structures.
The Lagrangian velocity statistics of dissipative drift-wave turbulence are investigated. For large values of the adiabaticity (or small collisionality), the probability density function of the Lagrangian acceleration shows exponential tails, as opposed to the stretched exponential or algebraic tails, generally observed for the highly intermittent acceleration of Navier-Stokes turbulence. This exponential distribution is shown to be a robust feature independent of the Reynolds number. For small adiabaticity, algebraic tails are observed, suggesting the strong influence of point-vortex-like dynamics on the acceleration. A causal connection is found between the shape of the probability density function and the autocorrelation of the norm of the acceleration.
The angle between subsequent particle displacement increments is evaluated as a function of the timelag in isotropic turbulence. It is shown that the evolution of this angle contains two well-defined power-laws, reflecting the multi-scale dynamics of high-Reynolds number turbulence. The proba-bility density function of the directional change is shown to be self-similar and well approximated by an analytically derived model assuming Gaussianity and independence of the velocity and the Lagrangian acceleration.