Scaling of the Turbulence Transition Threshold in a Pipe

We report the results of an experimental investigation of the transition to turbulence in a pipe over approximately an order of magnitude range in the Reynolds number Re. A novel scaling law is uncovered using a systematic experimental procedure which permits contact to be made with modern theoretical thinking. The principal result we uncover is a scaling law which indicates that the amplitude of perturbation required to cause transition scales as O(Re-1).