Turbulence, Coherent Structures, Dynamical Systems and Symmetry (Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics)

Holmes, Philip

ISBN 10: 0521551420 / ISBN 13: 9780521551427

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1996

About this Item

Your purchase helps support Sri Lankan Children's Charity 'The Rainbow Centre'. Ex-library, so some stamps and wear, but in good overall condition. Our donations to The Rainbow Centre have helped provide an education and a safe haven to hundreds of children who live in appalling conditions.

Seller Inventory # Z1-R-024-02087

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Turbulence, Coherent Structures, Dynamical Systems and Symmetry (Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521551420
• ISBN 13: 9780521551427
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

For turbulent flows at relatively low speeds there exists an excellent mathematical model in the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Why then is the "problem of turbulence" so difficult? One reason is that these nonlinear partial differential equations appear to be insoluble, except through numerical simulations, which offer useful approximations, but little direct understanding. Three recent developments offer new hope. First, the discovery by experimentalists of coherent structures in certain turbulent flows. Secondly, the suggestion that strange attractors and other ideas from finite dimensional dynamical systems theory might play a role in the analysis of the governing equations. And, finally, the introduction of the Karhunen Loève or proper orthogonal decomposition. This book introduces these developments and describes how they may be combined to create low-dimensional models of turbulence, resolving only the coherent structures. This book will interest engineers, especially in the aerospace, chemical, civil, environmental and geophysical areas, as well as physicists and applied mathematicians concerned with turbulence.

Book Description

Turbulence has fascinated mankind and frustrated scientists for over 500 years. This book offers a new approach to the modelling and analysis of turbulent flows dominated by coherent structures, the concentrated and recurrent patterns of vorticity seen in aircraft contrails, eddies behind bridge piers, and the wakes of moving cars and boats. Using techniques from probability theory and nonlinear dynamics, the authors show how the governing nonlinear equations of fluid mechanics may be reduced to simpler models which provide understanding of the basic mechanisms of turbulence generation.