The relaxation of stress in a ≠-fluid with reference to the decay of homogeneous turbulence

Abstract

It was suggested by Proudman (1970) that many of the phenomena of turbulence at high Reynolds number could be modelled by a suitably chosen member of a class of non-Newtonian fluids, ν-fluids, all of whose properties depend only on a single dimensional constant with the dimensions of viscosity. This paper investigates the relaxation of homogeneous stress in a doubly degenerate third-order ν-fluid (which is the simplest member of the class that can possibly be used to model turbulence) in the limit ν → 0.The equation which governs the stress tensor S is of the form \[ AS\ddot{S} + B\dot{S}^2 = 0, \] where A and B are isotropic tensor constants of the fluid; its differential structure can be of four distinct types. A list of properties required of the solutions of the equation is set out, and it is shown that only one of the four types has all the properties demanded of it. The behaviour of solutions of this equation is found to be consistent with the theoretical and experimental results on the decay of homogeneous turbulence.