Triple velocity correlations in isotropic turbulence

Abstract

The triple velocity correlation, in turbulence produced by inserting a square-mesh grid near the beginning of the working section of a wind tunnel, has been measured for mesh Reynolds numbers of R M = 5300, 21,200 and 42,400 (R M = UM/ν, where U is the mean wind speed in the working section of the tunnel and M is the centre to centre spacing of the rods making up the grid; ν is the kinematic viscosity of air). At the lowest Reynolds number the correlation has been measured at distances downstream of the grid varying from 20 to 120M. This range covers practically all of the initial period of the decay of turbulence, where the turbulent intensity varies as t −1.