The Century of Turbulence Theory: The Main Achievements and Unsolved Problems
Abstract
The flows of fluids actually met both in nature and engineering practice are turbulent in the overwhelming majority of cases. Therefore, in fact the humanity began to observe the turbulence phenomena at the very beginning of their existence. However only much later some naturalists began to think about specific features of these phenomena. And not less than 500 years ago the first attempts of qualitative analysis of turbulence appeared - about 1 500 Leonardo da Vinci again and again observed, described and sketched diverse vortical formations (coherent structures' according to the terminology of the second half of the 20th century) in various natural water streams. In his descriptions this remarkable man apparently for the first time used the word turbulence' (in Italian la * - turbolenza', originating from Latin turba' meaning turmoil) in its modern sense and also outlined the earliest version of the procedure similar to that now called the Reynolds decomposition' of the flow - fields into regular and random parts (see, e.g., 1,2). However, original Leonardo's studies did not form a theory' in the modern meaning of this word. Moreover, he published nothing during all his life and even used in most of his writings a special type which could be read only in a mirror.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA398709
Entities
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology