A scaling analysis of turbulent flows driven by Rayleigh–Taylor and Richtmyer–Meshkov instabilities

We investigate inertial subrange energy spectra associated with turbulent flows developed by the Rayleigh–Taylor instability and Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI). We argue that the extended Kolmogorov–Kraichnan phenomenology originally developed for turbulent flows with an external agent should also be applicable to these instability driven turbulent flows. A prediction of the mixing zone width for the RMI induced turbulent flow is presented using the RMI modified energy spectrum and a two-equation turbulence model. A possible application to subgrid modeling for large-eddy simulation is discussed briefly.