Simulation and modeling of turbulence subjected to a period of uniform plane strain

Direct numerical simulation is used to evaluate the effect of plane strain on isotropic homogeneous turbulence. The subsequent return to isotropy after the removal of the strain is also investigated. Large, moderate, and small strain rates are computed at moderate turbulence Reynolds numbers. The initial turbulence is generated via mechanical mixing so that the large scale turbulence develops relatively naturally. Turbulence length scales, Reynolds numbers, decay rates, and anisotropy are computed over the range of the simulations, with the goal of quantifying how anisotropic decay behaves. The simulations indicate that large scale anisotropy may not decay to zero at very large times. In agreement with experimental data, the presence of a recovery region is discerned before the return process is observed. Trajectory crossing is observed on the anisotropy invariant map indicating that anisotropy itself is not sufficient to determine its time evolution. Model constants for classic return-to-isotropy models are determined from the data and shown to vary with time. The oriented-eddy collision model [M. B. Martell and J. B. Perot, “The oriented-eddy collision turbulence model,” Flow, Turbul. Combust. 89(3), 335 (2012)], which includes turbulent structure information, is shown to predict the salient structure of the straining and return process.