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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
Slow dynamics in a turbulent von Kármán swirling flow
1Departamento de Física y Matemática Aplicada, Universidad de Navarra, P.O. Box 177, E-31080 Pamplona, Spain. admonguio@alumni.unav.es
Abstract:
An experimental study of a turbulent von Kármán flow in a cylinder is presented. The mean flow is stationary up to a Reynolds number Re=10(4) where a bifurcation takes place. The new regime breaks some symmetries of the problem and becomes time dependent because of equatorial vortices moving with a precession movement. In the exact counterrotating case, a bistable regime appears and spontaneous reversals of the azimuthal velocity are registered. A three-well potential model with additive noise reproduces this dynamic. A regime of periodic response is observed when a very weak forcing is applied.
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