title: Properties of steady states in turbulent axisymmetric flows.
abstract: We experimentally study the properties of mean and most probable velocity fields in a turbulent von Kármán flow. These fields are found to be described by two families of functions, as predicted by a recent statistical mechanics study of 3D axisymmetric flows. We show that these functions depend on the viscosity and on the forcing. Furthermore, when the Reynolds number is increased, we exhibit a tendency for Beltramization of the flow, i.e., a velocity-vorticity alignment. This result provides a first experimental evidence of nonlinearity depletion in nonhomogeneous nonisotropic turbulent flow.
authors.affiliation: Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, DSM, CEA Saclay, CNRS URA 2464, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France. romain.monchaux@cea.fr
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Monchaux
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ravelet
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dubrulle
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiffaudel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Daviaud