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Phase transition to sustained turbulence in pipe flow

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In a pipe, the onset of turbulence is intermittent in both space and time, and undergoes a phase transition to sustained turbulence at a critical Reynolds number. This transition has not been quantified so far due to the extremely long observation times needed near the critical point. In this paper, we exploit the memoryless nature of the turbulence proliferation and decay processes at Reynolds numbers around the onset of turbulence, to construct a pipe with quasi-periodic boundary conditions. This allows us, for the first time, to directly measure the asymptotic evolution of turbulent flow and to study the phase transition to sustained turbulence.

Author(s):

Mukund Vasudevan    
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Germany

Marco Vassallo    
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Germany

Bjoern Hof    
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Germany