Symmetry reduction of turbulent pipe flows

Abstract

We propose and apply a Fourier-based symmetry reduction scheme to remove, or quotient, the streamwise translation symmetry of Laser-Induced-Fluorescence measurements of turbulent pipe flows that are viewed as dynamical systems in a high-dimensional state space. We also explain the relation between Taylor's hypothesis and the comoving frame velocity $U_{d}$ of the turbulent orbit in state space. In particular, in physical space we observe flow structures that deform as they advect downstream at a speed that differs significantly from $U_{d}$. Indeed, the symmetry reduction analysis of planar dye concentration fields at Reynolds number $\mathfrak{\mathsf{Re}}=3200$ reveals that the speed $u$ at which high concentration peaks advect is roughly 1.43 times $U_{d}$. In a physically meaningful symmetry-reduced frame, the excess speed $u-U_{d}\approx0.43U_{d}$ can be explained in terms of the so-called geometric phase velocity $U_{g}$ associated with the orbit in state space. The 'self-propulsion velocity' $U_{g}$ is induced by the shape-changing dynamics of passive scalar structures observed in the symmetry-reduced frame, in analogy with that of a swimmer at low Reynolds numbers.