Oldenburg scientists discover new class of turbulence

The precise description of turbulence in the air is one of the great unsolved problems of science. In mathematics, it is even considered one of the seven millennium problems. Oldenburg researchers from ForWind, the centre for wind energy research at the universities of Oldenburg, Bremen and Hanover, have discovered a new class of turbulence under the leadership of Prof. Dr Joachim Peinke in collaboration with scientists from Imperial College in London, and their research results were published online on 5 May 2010 under the title "Defining a New Class of Turbulent Flows" in Physical Review Letters, one of the most renowned journals for physics.

Turbulence is an everyday phenomenon and occurs in most flows. However, they are very difficult to calculate and predict. Turbulence research previously assumed that turbulent flows behaved in the same way down to the smallest detail. "Our research results have shown that this is not the case," explains Peinke. Not all turbulence is the same. The research results of the Oldenburg and London scientists show that turbulent flows behind fractal structures have different properties. In concrete terms, this means: "Turbulent wind conditions behind a house with a simple, box-shaped structure are different to the turbulent flows that prevail behind a tree with its complex ramifications," says Robert Stresing, first author of the article.

The consequences of the research results are manifold and range from new findings for basic research to concrete applications. In Oldenburg, the newly discovered classes of turbulence are being used to research the shaking forces on wind turbines, as these are exposed to particularly strong wind turbulence due to their proximity to the ground.

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