Growth mechanisms of a turbulent spot

Hairpin-like vortices have been identified as the dominant coherent flow structures in transitional and turbulent boundary layers and free shear layers. To better understand the characteristics of these flows, it is important to study the creation and growth mechanisms of the hairpin vortices and the resultant wave packets containing multiples of these flow structures. A turbulent spot in isolation provides a suitable environment to study how a hairpin vortex forms in a shear layer and how the formation of one such flow structure may produce a local flow environment that promotes the creation of similar structures in sequence.

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