Speed-direction description of turbulent flows

Abstract

In this note we introduce speed and direction variables to describe the motion of incompressible viscous flows. Fluid velocity ${\bf u}$ is decomposed into ${\bf u}=u{\bf r}$, with $u=|{\bf u}|$ and ${\bf r}={\bf u}/|{\bf u}|$. We consider a directional split of the Navier-Stokes equations into a coupled system of equations for $u$ and for ${\bf r}$. Equation for $u$ is particularly simple but solely maintains the energy balance of the system. Under the assumption of a weak correlation between fluctuations in speed and direction in a developed turbulent flow, we further illustrate the application of $u$-${\bf r}$ variables to describe mean statistics of a shear turbulence. The standard (full) Reynolds stress tensor does not appear in a resulting equation for the mean flow profile.