Lecture 21

Statistical treatment of turbulence

21.1 Introduction
In turbulent flows, the various properties of the fluid, such as the velocity, pressure, etc., vary in
a very complicated manner with position and time. The instantaneous values of these properties
appear to behave almost randomly with time. Luckily, however, we are generally not interested in the
instantaneous properties of a fluid flow; rather, we want information on how the average properties
vary. These average properties vary in a regular manner and can be modeled (at least approximately)
even for a turbulent flow.

21.2 Brief overview of statistics

Before we can proceed, we need to define precisely what is meant by an “average property.” Consider
the situation where we are trying to perform measurements on a turbulent flow. In order to obtain
statistics for the measurement, we repeat the experiment N times. The time variation of the property
f that we are measuring (e.g., pressure, velocity, etc.) will be different each time we measure it, due
do slight differences in the initial conditions of the experiments. The average variation of the property
f with time, which we denote as hf (t)i, is defined as
N
1 X
hf (t)i ≡ fi (t) (21.1)
N i=1

where fi (t) is the time dependence of f measured during the ith experiment.
For a given experiment, the quantity f can always be written as a sum of two terms:

f (t) = hf (t)i + f 0 (t) (21.2)

where the first term is the average value of f , and the second term is the deviation of the quantity
from its average value (note that in this case, f 0 is not the derivative of f ). If we take the average of
both sides of the equation, we find

hf (t)i = hf (t)i + hf 0 (t)i

hf 0 (t)i = 0 (21.3)

which is just a statement of the fact that the average deviation of a property from its mean is zero.
We will make frequent use of this fact shortly. Although the average of f 0 is zero, the average of f 02
is generally not (i.e., hf 02 i 6= 0). The larger the value of hf 02 i 6= 0, the larger the fluctuations in the
property.

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21.3 Reynold stresses
The various properties of a fluid can be written as the sum of an average value and an instantaneous
fluctuation from the average

vi = hvi i + vi0 (21.4)

τij = hτij i + τij0 (21.5)
p = hpi + p0 (21.6)

Note that for a laminar flow, the fluctuations of the various properties are identically equal to zero
(i.e., vi0 = τij0 = p0 = 0).
We are not directly interested in the instantaneous values vi , τij , and p of the flow, which are
governed by the Navier-Stokes equation (see Eqs. (20.3)–(20.5)). We are only concerned in their
average values (i.e., hvi i, hτij i, and hpi). So we need to develop the equations that govern the average
properties. To do this, we just insert Eqs. (21.4)–(21.6) into the Navier-Stokes equations.
For the continuity equation, this becomes:
∂vi
= 0
∂xi
∂
(hvi i + vi0 ) = 0
∂xi
Taking the average of both sides of the equation, we find
∂hvi i
= 0 (21.7)
∂xi
This is the same as the original equation, but now involves the average velocity rather than the instan-
taneous velocity.
The relationship between the stress and the velocity gradients becomes:
 
∂vi ∂vj
τij = µ +
∂xj ∂xi
 
0 ∂ 0 ∂ 0
hτij i + τij = µ (hvi i + vi ) + (hvj i + vj )
∂xj ∂xi
Taking the average of both sides of this equation, we find
 
∂hvi i ∂hvj i
hτij i = µ + (21.8)
∂xj ∂xi

where we have used the fact that hf 0 i = 0. Again, we find that this is the same as the original equation,
but with the instantaneous values replaced by their averages.
For the momentum equation, we find
∂ρvi ∂ ∂τji ∂p
= − (ρvj vi ) + − + ρgi
∂t ∂xj ∂xj ∂xi
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
ρ(hvi i + vi0 ) = − ρ(hvj i + vj0 )(hvi i + vi0 ) + (hτji i + τji0 ) − (hpi + p0 ) + ρgi
∂t ∂xj ∂xj ∂xi
∂ ∂
ρ(hvi i + vi0 ) = − ρ(hvj ihvi i + vj0 hvi i + hvj ivi0 + vj0 vi0 )
∂t ∂xj
∂ ∂
+ (hτji i + τji0 ) − (hpi + p0 ) + ρgi (21.9)
∂xj ∂xi

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Taking the time average of both sides of the equation, we find

∂ρhvi i ∂ ∂hτji i ∂hpi

= − ρ(hvj ihvi i + hvj0 vi0 i) + − + ρgi
∂t ∂xj ∂xj ∂xi
∂ ∂ ∂hpi
= − ρhvj ihvi i + (hτji i − ρhvj0 vi0 i) − + ρgi
∂xj ∂xj ∂xi
∂ ∂ (t) ∂hpi
= − ρhvj ihvi i + (hτji i + τji ) − + ρgi (21.10)
∂xj ∂xj ∂xi
(t)
where τij is known as the Reynolds stress and is given by
(t)
τij = −ρhvi0 vj0 i (21.11)

For the momentum equation, unlike the previous two equations, we find that instantaneous properties
are not simply replaced by their average values. We actually have an extra stress term. This additional
(t)
stress τij is due to the turbulent motion of the fluid.
The average total stress τij within a fluid can, therefore, be decomposed into two contributions:
(t)
(i) viscous forces hτij i and (ii) turbulent eddies τij .
(t)
τijtotal = hτij i + τij (21.12)
(t)
When the flow is laminar, then τij = 0.
In Fig. 21.1, we plot a typical velocity profile of a fluid in turbulent flow near a wall. The flow
can be divided into three general regions: (i) the laminar sublayer (or viscous sublayer), (ii) the buffer
layer, and (iii) the turbulent core. In the laminar sublayer, the flow is relatively slow, due to the no-slip
boundary conditions imposed by the nearby wall. In this region of the flow, the level of turbulence is
extremely low, and viscous stress is much greater than turbulent stress.

Figure 21.1: Typical velocity profile for a system in turbulent flow conditions.

Away from the wall, however, the Reynolds stress dominates over viscous stress. This region
is known as the turbulent core. In the region between the laminar sublayer and the turbulent core,
viscous transport and turbulent transport of momentum play roughly equal roles. This region of the

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flow is known as the buffer layer. In general for a system in turbulent flow, most of the fluid is in the
turbulent core. The laminar sublayer is typically only a thin slab near the wall; the thickness of this
layer varies inversely with the Reynolds number.
In order to get a feel for the relative contributions of the viscous and Reynolds stresses, we show
a typical distribution of stress for the turbulent flow of a fluid through a pipe of radius R in Fig. 21.2.
Near the wall of the pipe, the viscous stresses dominate the flow. It is only when we move away to
the pipe wall, do the turbulent stresses begin to make a significant contribution. The size of the region
where the Reynold stresses are significant depends on Reynolds number of the flow. The higher the
Reynolds number, the large the region. For low Reynolds number where the flow is laminar, the
Reynolds stresses make no contribution.

(t)
Figure 21.2: Relative contribution of viscous hτrz i and Reynolds τrz stresses as a function of radial
position in a pipe.

21.4 Summary
In order to complete the description of turbulent flow, we need to relate the Reynold stress to other
properties of the flow (e.g., velocity gradients, etc.). Unfortunately, this is not a simple task. For
over a century, many attempts have been made to model turbulent flows; however, no completely
satisfactory description of turbulence is currently available. In the next lecture, we will discuss a
particularly simplistic, yet extremely useful, model of turbulence.

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