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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
A self-sustaining process model of inertial layer dynamics in high Reynolds number turbulent wall flows
G P Chini1,2, B Montemuro3, C M White2
1Integrated Applied Mathematics Program, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA greg.chini@unh.edu.
Abstract:
Field observations and laboratory experiments suggest that at high Reynolds numbers Re the outer region of turbulent boundary layers self-organizes into quasi-uniform momentum zones (UMZs) separated by internal shear layers termed 'vortical fissures' (VFs). Motivated by this emergent structure, a conceptual model is proposed with dynamical components that collectively have the potential to generate a self-sustaining interaction between a single VF and adjacent UMZs. A large-Re asymptotic analysis of the governing incompressible Navier-Stokes equation is performed to derive reduced equation sets for the streamwise-averaged and streamwise-fluctuating flow within the VF and UMZs. The simplified equations reveal the dominant physics within-and isolate possible coupling mechanisms among-these different regions of the flow.This article is part of the themed issue 'Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number'.
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