Taylor microscale

The Taylor microscale, which is sometimes called the turbulence length scale, is a length scale used to characterize a turbulent fluid flow. This microscale is named after Geoffrey Ingram Taylor. The Taylor microscale is the intermediate length scale at which fluid viscosity significantly affects the dynamics of turbulent eddies in the flow. This length scale is traditionally applied to turbulent flow which can be characterized by a Kolmogorov spectrum of velocity fluctuations. In such a flow, length scales which are larger than the Taylor microscale are not strongly affected by viscosity. These larger length scales in the flow are generally referred to as the integral range. Below the Taylor microscale the turbulent motions are subject to strong viscous forces and kinetic energy is dissipated into heat. These shorter length scale motions are generally termed the dissipation range.