Describes methods revealing the structures and dynamics of turbulence for engineering, physical science and mathematics researchers working in fluid dynamics.

Turbulence modeling both addresses a fundamental problem in physics, 'the last great unsolved problem of classical physics,' and has far-reaching importance in the solution of difficult practical problems from aeronautical engineering to dynamic meteorology. However, the growth of supercom puter facilities has recently caused an apparent shift in the focus of tur bulence research from modeling to direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES). This shift in emphasis comes at a time when claims are being made in the world around us that scientific analysis itself will shortly be transformed or replaced by a more powerful 'paradigm' based on massive computations and sophisticated visualization. Although this viewpoint has not lacked ar ticulate and influential advocates, these claims can at best only be judged premature. After all, as one computational researcher lamented, 'the com puter only does what I tell it to do, and not what I want it to do. ' In turbulence research, the initial speculation that computational meth ods would replace not only model-based computations but even experimen tal measurements, have not come close to fulfillment. It is becoming clear that computational methods and model development are equal partners in turbulence research: DNS and LES remain valuable tools for suggesting and validating models, while turbulence models continue to be the preferred tool for practical computations. We believed that a symposium which would reaffirm the practical and scientific importance of turbulence modeling was both necessary and timely.

Chandrika Kamath describes how techniques from the multi-disciplinary field of data mining can be used to address the modern problem of data overload in science and engineering domains. Starting with a survey of analysis problems in different applications, it identifies the common themes across these domains.

This book provides students and researchers in fluid engineering with an up-to-date overview of turbulent flow research in the areas of simulation and modeling. A key element of the book is the systematic, rational development of turbulence closure models and related aspects of modern turbulent flow theory and prediction. Starting with a review of the spectral dynamics of homogenous and inhomogeneous turbulent flows, succeeding chapters deal with numerical simulation techniques, renormalization group methods and turbulent closure modeling. Each chapter is authored by recognized leaders in their respective fields, and each provides a thorough and cohesive treatment of the subject.

This book is based on the proceedings of the COSNet/CSIRO Workshop on Turbulence and Coherent Structures held at the Australian National University in Canberra in January 2006. It codifies recent developments in our understanding of the dynamics and statistical dynamics of turbulence and coherent structures in fluid mechanics, atmospheric and oceanic dynamics, plasma physics, and dynamical systems theory. It brings together articles by internationally acclaimed researchers from around the world including Dijkstra (Utrecht), Holmes (Princeton), Jimenez (UPM and Stanford), Krommes (Princeton), McComb (Edinburgh), Chong (Melbourne), Dewar (ANU), Watmuff (RMIT) and Frederiksen (CSIRO). The book will prove a useful resource for researchers as well as providing an excellent reference for graduate students working in this frontier area.

This book is the closing report of the national priority program Nature-Inspired Fluid Mechanics (Schwerpunktprogramm SPP 1207: Strömungsbeeinflussung in der Natur und Technik). Nature-inspired fluid mechanics is one subset of biomimetics, a discipline which has received increased attention over the last decade, with numerous faculties and degree courses devoted solely to exploring ‘nature as a model’ for engineering applications. To save locomotion energy, evolution has optimized the design of animals such that friction loss is minimized. In addition to many morphological adaptations, animals that are often exposed to water or air currents have developed special behaviors that allow them to use the energy contained in air or water fluctuations for energy savings. Such flow manipulation and control is not only important for many animals, but also for many engineering applications. Since living beings have been optimized by several million years of evolution it is very likely that many engineering disciplines can profit from the study of systems found in nature. Curiously, there has been little serious cross-disciplinary work and information exchange on the topic of fluid dynamics and flow control and this was the initial motivation to establish this national priority program.

Advances in Turbulence VI presents an update on the state of turbulence research with some bias towards research in Europe, since it represents an almost complete collection of the paper presentations at the Sixth European Turbulence Conference, sponsored by EUROMECH, ERCOFTAC and COST, and held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, July 2-5, 1996. The problem of transition, together with the structural description of turbulence, and the scaling laws of fully developed turbulence have continued to receive most attention by the research community and much progress has been made since the last European Turbulence Conference in 1994. The volume is thus geared towards specialists in the area of flow turbulence who could not attend the conference, as well as anybody who wishes quickly to assess the most active current research areas and the groups associated with them.