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Evidence of Non-Universality of von Kármán’s κ

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Experimental and Computational Solutions of Hydraulic Problems

Part of the book series: GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences ((GEPS))

Abstract

A notable universal feature of wall-bounded turbulent flows is the universal logarithmic law of the wall deduced by Theodore von Kármán. This law of the wall describes how time-averaged streamwise velocity changes with distance from the wall. Despite the law of the wall having a universal von Kármán constant κ = 0.41 that governs the slope of the log-law velocity profile, as commonly known over a period of about 80 years, in fluvial streams there are a number of instances of the non-universality of κ. To be specific, it behaves as a variable in flows with low relative submergence, or where there is bed-load and/or suspended-load sediment transport. This article focuses on the aspect of non-universality of κ by inviting various open questions relating to future research directions.

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Acknowledgments

The Taylor and Francis Group is kindly acknowledged for having granted free permission of reuse of the content of the chapter Gaudio et al. (2010) (www.tandfonline.com).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Difesa del Suolo “V. Marone”, Università della Calabria, 87036, Rende (CS), Italy

    Roberto Gaudio

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721302, West Bengal, India

    Subhasish Dey

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  1. Roberto Gaudio
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  2. Subhasish Dey
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Correspondence to Roberto Gaudio .

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  1. , Insitute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Ks. Janusza 64, Warsaw, 01-452, Poland

    Paweł Rowiński

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Gaudio, R., Dey, S. (2013). Evidence of Non-Universality of von Kármán’s κ. In: Rowiński, P. (eds) Experimental and Computational Solutions of Hydraulic Problems. GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30209-1_4

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