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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Three-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry for Turbulence Applications: Case of a Jet Flow
Published on: February 27, 2016
Turbulence regeneration in pipe flow at moderate Reynolds numbers
Björn Hof1, Casimir W H van Doorne, Jerry Westerweel
1Laboratory for Aero- and Hydrodynamics, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 21, 2628 CA Delft, The Netherlands. bjorn@reynolds.ph.man.ac.uk
Abstract:
We present the results of an experimental investigation into the nature and structure of turbulent pipe flow at moderate Reynolds numbers. A turbulence regeneration mechanism is identified which sustains a symmetric traveling wave within the flow. The periodicity of the mechanism allows comparison to the wavelength of numerically observed exact traveling wave solutions and close agreement is found. The advection speed of the upstream turbulence laminar interface in the experimental flow is observed to form a lower bound on the phase velocities of the exact traveling wave solutions. Overall our observations suggest that the dynamics of the turbulent flow at moderate Reynolds numbers are governed by unstable nonlinear traveling waves.
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