Author(s): Seth Raver

Presentation: oral

Due to the ubiquity of turbulence in engineering applications, numerical simulations of turbulence are crucial to NASA’s missions and goals. However, the efficient specification of initial and inflow conditions for such simulations remains challenging. The shell models of turbulence are a class of one-dimensional models capable of mimicking the dynamics of high Reynolds number turbulence in a computationally efficient manner. Therefore, they may help solve the problem of synthesizing initial and inflow conditions in numerical simulations. In this research, we tested the fidelity of several shell models to basic turbulence characteristics such as the dissipation and power spectra, and inviscid energy conservation. We also tested the relaxation to thermal equilibrium of the unforced, inviscid models. Finally, we propose a multicomponent, vector shell model capable of representing interactions between three velocity components. This model utilizes an interaction model developed by Kraichnan (1963) to encapsulate the nonlinear effects of the Navier-Stokes equations. It may be more realistic than existing shell models that replace the velocity by a single complex scalar. Current results prove promising and justify further research.

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