Rough-conduit flows and the existence of fully developed turbulence

Abstract

It is widely believed that at high Reynolds number (Re) all turbulent flows approach a state of "fully developed turbulence" defined by a unique, Re-independent statistics of the velocity fluctuations. Yet direct measurements of the velocity fluctuations have failed to yield clear-cut empirical evidence of the existence of fully developed turbulence. Here we relate the friction coefficient ($f$) of rough-conduit flows to the statistics of the velocity fluctuations. In light of experimental measurements of $f$, our results yield unequivocal evidence of the existence of fully developed turbulence.