Additive Layers: An Alternate Classification of Flow Regimes

Abstract

It is argued that ejections of wall fluid in the bursting process disturb the flow beyond the wall layer and result in the emergence of two new layers in the flow field: the law of the wake and log-law layers. The wall layer represents the extent of penetration of viscous momentum into the main flow and remains constant once it has reached a critical value at the end of the laminar regime. The identification of the three flow regimes: laminar, transition and fully turbulent is conveniently achieved by monitoring the emergence of these three layers