Multiscale geometry and scaling of the turbulent-nonturbulent interface in high Reynolds number boundary layers

The scaling and surface area properties of the wrinkled surface separating turbulent from nonturbulent regions in open shear flows are important to our understanding of entrainment mechanisms at the boundaries of turbulent flows. Particle image velocimetry data from high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layers covering three decades in scale are used to resolve the turbulent-nonturbulent interface experimentally and, for the first time, determine unambiguously whether such surfaces exhibit fractal scaling. Box counting of the interface intersection with the measurement plane exhibits power-law scaling, with an exponent between -1.3 and -1.4. A complementary analysis based on spatial filtering of the velocity fields also shows power-law behavior of the coarse-grained interface length as a function of filter width, with an exponent between -0.3 and -0.4. These results establish that the interface is fractal-like with a multiscale geometry and fractal dimension of Df≈2.3-2.4.