Origin of the turbulence structure in wall-bounded flows, and implications toward computability

Coordinate-transformed analysis of turbulence transport is developed, which leads to a symmetric set of gradient expressions for the Reynolds stress tensor components. In this perspective, the turbulence structure in wall-bounded flows is seen to arise from an interaction of a small number of intuitive dynamical terms: transport, pressure and viscous. Main features of the turbulent flow can be theoretically prescribed in this way and reconstructed for channel and boundary layer flows, with and without pressure gradients, as validated in comparison with available direct numerical simulation data. A succinct picture of turbulence structure and its origins emerges, reflective of the basic physics of momentum and energy balance if placed in a specific moving coordinate frame. An iterative algorithm produces an approximate solution for the mean velocity, and its implications toward computability of turbulent flows is discussed.