Expanded analogy between Boltzmann kinetic theory of fluids and turbulence

Abstract

We demonstrate that the effects of turbulent fluctuations have a striking resemblance to those of microscale (thermal) fluctuations in laminar flows, even to higher order in the Knudsen number. This suggests that there may be a good basis for understanding turbulence in terms of Boltzmann kinetic theory. If so, turbulence may be better described in terms of ‘mixing times’ rather than the more classical ‘mixing lengths’. Comparisons are made to Reynolds-stress turbulence models.