Kolmogorov length scale

By definition, the strain rate has the dimension of [1/s]. Thus the eddies contributing to the dissipation have very small convective time scales. Therefore, the length scale associated with should be estimated to be much smaller than that was discussed in the previous section. Thus, the size of eddies that contribute to the dissipation is also very small, i.e., at high Reynolds number there exists a large discrepancy between the convective time scale of (at which kinetic energy is transferred from the base flow to the turbulent fluctuations) and , the scale of viscous dissipation. Therefore, the eddies contributing to the dissipation are independent of any orientation effects introduced by the mean shear. It has already been discussed that the small scales of turbulence can be thought of as being governed by the dissipation rate per unit mass, and the kinematic viscosity . Thus the smallest length scale in turbulent flow is the Kolmogorov length scale