Nonextensive statistical dynamics applied to wall turbulence

Abstract

We apply a formalism of nonextensive statistical mechanics to experimental wall turbulence data, for the first time to our knowledge. Wind tunnel data for velocity differences a streamwise distance $r$ apart are compared to the prediction from theory as developed by Beck. The simplest theory, in which all free parameters are removed, is found to reproduce statistics for the wall-normal velocity component remarkably well, even for $r$ well beyond the corresponding integral scale, while the corresponding description of the streamwise velocity fluctuations is reasonable at separations below the integral scale. A least-squares 2-parameter fit is performed, and the dependence of the optimum parameter values on wall separation and $r$ is analysed. Both parameters are found to be approximately independent of wall-separation in the logarithmic sub-layer.