Construct · 3 fields · 3 citations
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In fluid dynamics, the mixing length is the characteristic distance a turbulent eddy travels before it mixes with and loses its identity to the surrounding flow, carrying momentum across that distance. Prandtl's 1925 Bericht über Untersuchungen zur ausgebildeten Turbulenz introduced it to close the equations of turbulent flow by relating the turbulent (Reynolds) stress to the mean velocity gradient times a mixing length. The referent is a length scale standing in for the size of momentum-carrying eddies, the same idea reused to model convection in the atmosphere and in stars.[1]
In atmospheric science, the mixing length is the vertical distance a turbulent parcel in the planetary boundary layer travels before mixing with its surroundings, used to relate turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat, and moisture to the mean gradients. Stull's An introduction to boundary layer meteorology presents mixing-length and related closures for boundary-layer turbulence. It is Prandtl's construct applied to the atmosphere's turbulent surface and boundary layers, the same eddy-transport length scale in a geophysical setting.[2]
In stellar astrophysics, mixing-length theory models convection inside a star by assuming a rising or sinking blob travels about one mixing length (taken as a multiple of the local pressure scale height) before dissolving and sharing its heat, which sets the convective energy transport. Kippenhahn and Weigert's Stellar structure and evolution gives the standard formulation used in stellar models. It is Prandtl's mixing-length construct transposed to stellar interiors, the same eddy-travel length idea governing heat transport where the medium is stellar plasma.[3]
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