The anisotropic structure of turbulence and its energy spectrum

The spectral energy distribution in turbulent flows is observed to follow a k−5/3 power scaling, as originally predicted by Kolmogorov’s theory. However, the underlying assumptions in Kolmogorov’s theory appear not to hold with most experimental and numerical data showing evidence of small-scale anisotropy and significant direct energy transfer between the large- and the small-scales. Here, we present a flow structure that reconciles the k−5/3 spectrum with small-scale universality, small-scale anisotropy, and direct scale interactions. The flow structure is a shear layer, which contains the small-scales of motion and is bounded by the large-scales. The anisotropic shear layer reveals the expected scaling of the energy spectrum in nearly all directions.