Quantitative three-dimensional imaging and the structure of passive scalar fields in fully turbulent flows

Abstract

The three-dimensional turbulent field of a passive scalar has been mapped quantitatively by obtaining, effectively instantaneously, several closely spaced parallel two-dimensional images; the two-dimensional images themselves have been obtained by laser-induced fluorescence. Turbulent jets and wakes at moderate Reynolds numbers are used as examples. The working fluid is water. The spatial resolution of the measurements is about four Kolmogorov scales. The first contribution of this work concerns the three-dimensional nature of the boundary of the scalar-marked regions (the ‘scalar interface’). It is concluded that interface regions detached from the main body are exceptional occurrences (if at all), and that in spite of the large structure, the randomness associated with small-scale convolutions of the interface are strong enough that any two intersections of it by parallel planes are essentially uncorrelated even if the separation distances are no more than a few Kolmogorov scales. The fractal dimension of the interface is determined directly by box-counting in three dimensions, and the value of 2.35 ± 0.04 is shown to be in good agreement with that previously inferred from two-dimensional sections. This justifies the use of the method of intersections. The second contribution involves the joint statistics of the scalar field and the quantity χ* (or its components), χ* being the appropriate approximation to the scalar ‘dissipation’ field in the inertial–convective range of scales. The third aspect relates to the multifractal scaling properties of the spatial intermittency of χ*; since all three components of χ* have been obtained effectively simultaneously, inferences concerning the scaling properties of the individual components and their sum have been possible. The usefulness of the multifractal approach for describing highly intermittent distributions of χ* and its components is explored by measuring the so-called singularity spectrum (or the f(α)-curve) which quantifies the spatial distribution of various strengths of χ*. Also obtained is a time sequence of two-dimensional images with the temporal resolution on the order of a few Batchelor timescales; this enables us to infer features of temporal intermittency in turbulent flows, and qualitatively the propagation speeds of the scalar interface. Finally, a few issues relating to the resolution effects have been addressed briefly by making point measurements with the spatial and temporal resolutions comparable with the Batchelor lengthscale and the corresponding timescale.