Large scales in the developing mixing layer

A new experimental technique is described for the study of the interactions between the large-scale vortical features in the two-dimensional mixing layer. Detector probes above and below the mixing layer are used to monitor the large-scale structure. Conditional sampling is performed in a moderate Reynolds number developing flow, by using phase and amplitude information from these detector probes. It is shown that significant Reynolds-stress production is associated with the pairing interaction in which two vortical structures combine to form a single, larger vortical structure.