Finite Reynolds number effect and the 4/5 law

Kolmogorov [A. N. Kolmogorov, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 30, 299 (1941)] formulated a theory of small-scale turbulence (K41), valid at extremely large Reynolds numbers, based on two similarity hypotheses and on an exact result derived from the transport equation for the second-order structure function, known as the 4/5 law. Although K41 was praised for its simplicity and elegance, Kolmogorov [A. N. Kolmogorov, J. Fluid Mech. 13, 82 (1962).] proposed a new refined similarity hypothesis (K62) mainly to account for the effect of the large scales on the small scales. It has been widely interpreted in the literature as a correction to K41 arising from the intermittency of the instantaneous energy dissipation rate ε. In this paper we argue that since K62 retains the 4/5 law, it must satisfy the same constraints as K41, viz., extremely large Reynolds number and flow stationarity. The retention of the 4/5 law is not however consistent with the presence of nonstationarity due to the effect of the large scales, as postulated by K62. A relatively extensive survey of published data shows that, indeed, the 4/5 law has not yet been observed in either experiments or simulations due to the Reynolds number not being sufficiently large. The use of the transport equation for the second-order structure function, together with an empirical model for the Kolmogorov-normalized second-order velocity structure function, confirms that the 4/5 law is established only after this structure function becomes independent of the Reynolds number.