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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Molecular-Level Simulations of Turbulence and Its Decay
M A Gallis1, N P Bitter1, T P Koehler1
1Engineering Sciences Center, Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-0840, USA.
Abstract:
We provide the first demonstration that molecular-level methods based on gas kinetic theory and molecular chaos can simulate turbulence and its decay. The direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, a molecular-level technique for simulating gas flows that resolves phenomena from molecular to hydrodynamic (continuum) length scales, is applied to simulate the Taylor-Green vortex flow. The DSMC simulations reproduce the Kolmogorov -5/3 law and agree well with the turbulent kinetic energy and energy dissipation rate obtained from direct numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations using a spectral method. This agreement provides strong evidence that molecular-level methods for gases can be used to investigate turbulent flows quantitatively.
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