ACTA MECHANICA SINICA

14

1994

Here E(k) is the energy spectrum, e is the energy dissipation rate, v is the kinematic
viscosity, and T(k) is the energy transfer spectrum function. For a stationary turbulence,
T(k) = 2vk2E(k), by using (1) (5) and (6), we obtain

-(12v~-g/7)e-2/ak21~

E(k)k4dk

(7)

here kd = (e/u3) 1/4 is the Kolmogorov wavenumber. The Reynolds number

RA : <

u 2 > 1 / 2 ,,~//,,

here

= [<

(8)

OUl ) 2}] 1/2

(9)

is Taylor microscMe. For isotropic .turbulence

<

> = (2/3)

E(k)dk

(10)

From (5) (8) (9) and (10), after some manipulation, we obtain

E(k)dk

Ra = (2/3)v~(ka/e) 2/3

(11)

By using the nonequilibrium statistical mechanics closure method [9], we have derived
t h e following approximate formula for the energy spectrum in the high-wavenumber range

E(k) = e2/3k-5/3F(k/kd)

(12a)

Fix) -- 1.19(1 + 5.3x2/3)exp(-5.4x 4/3)

(125)

Let k0 be the characteristic wavenumber of the energy range, and a simple approximate
formula of E(k), which is valid in both high-wavenumber and low-wavenumber ranges, is [7'10]

E(k) - e2/3k-5/3F(k/kd)/[1 4- (ko/k) s/3]

0.6

0.5

0.4
i0

l0 2

R~
Fig.1 Skewness S vs. Reynolds number Ra

10 3

(13)

In the high-wavenumber range, k > >

k0, (13) .becomes (123).
When
k < < kd. F(k/kd) = F(0) is the
Kolmogorov constant, (13) becomes
the low-wavenumber energy spectrum
adopted in Ref.[10].
By (7) (11) (12b) and (13), we
numerically calculate /~a and S for
many given values of ko/k, obtaining
the relationship between the skewness
S and the Reynolds number Rx, which
is shown in Fig.1. We have done the
calculation up to R~ = 10 s, when
R~ is high, and S becomes a constant
-0.515. Fig.1 shows only the part of
10 < R~ < 10 3.

Vol.10, No.l

Qian Jian: Skewness Factor of Turbulent Velocity Derivative

15

IV. DISCUSSION
Fig.1 shows that the skewness S approaches a constant S ~ = -01515 as R~ ~ co.
This theoretical result agrees with (4), and is compatible with the DNS result S = - 0 . 5 of
Vincent and Meneguzzi [6]. Since the R~ of current DNS is of the order 102, it is doubtful
whether the skewness S obtained by the DNS can represent the asymptotic value S ~ . Fig.1
shows that S almost attains the value S ~ when R~ ~ 102~ and in fact S differs from S ~
by less than 1% when R~ > 60. Therefore, the theoretical result of this p a p e r confirms the
following conjecture made by Vincent and Meneguzzi[61: the skewness S obtained by the
DNS with R~ ~ 102 is nearly the same as the asymptotic value S ~ .
The issue, whether t h e skewness S and the flatness F approach a finite constant as
R~ --~ c~, is essentially related to the problem of universality of small-scale structure for
high-R~ turbulent flows. If the small-scale structure is universal, the statistical properties
of small-scale motion such as the skewness S and the flatness F will be independent of
the large-scale motion and the Reynolds number R~ so long as R~ is high enough. By the
L N model and the fractal model, IS I and F approach infinity as R~ --* c~, so they are
dependent of R~ no m a t t e r how high R~ is. According to the theoretical results of this
paper and Ref.[7], S and F become universal constants independent of R~ when R~ is high
enough, probably implying the universality of small-scale structure of high-R~ turbulent
flOWS.
As mentioned above, when k < < kd (13) becomes the low-wavenumber energy spect r u m used in Ref.[10], and E ( k ) ,,~ k as k/ko ~ O. Of course, it is reasonable to adopt other
forms of the low-wavenumber energy spectrum, for example, E ( k ) ~ k 4 as k/ko --~ O. We
have used different forms of low-wavenumber energy spectrum to calculate S, and it is found
that the forms of low-wavenumber energy spectrum only affect the skewness S for small R~.
The different forms of low-wavenumber energy spectrum give the same S when R~ is high,
in particular the same asymptotic value S ~ -- -0.515.
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