LAUSR

Abstract Within the framework of the Navier–Stokes equations, the Weissenberg effect of turbulence is investigated. We begin with our investigation on the elastic effect of homogeneous turbulent shear flow. First, in the sense of Truesdell (Physics of Fluids, 1964) on the natural time of materials, we derive the natural time of turbulence, and use it together with the natural viscosity of turbulence derived in the article of Huang et al. (Journal of Turbulence, 2003) to define the natural Weissenberg number of turbulence as a measure of the elastic effect of homogeneous turbulence. Second, we define a primary Weissenberg number of turbulence, which in laminar flow reduces to the Weissenberg number widely applied in rheology to characterize the elasticity of visco-elastic fluids. Our analysis based on the experimental results of Tavoularis and Karnik (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1989) indicates that the larger is the Weissenberg number of turbulence, the more elastic becomes the turbulent flow concerned. Furthermore, we put forth a general Weissenberg number of turbulence, which includes the primary Weissenberg number of turbulence as a special case, to measure the overall elastic effects of turbulence. Besides, it is shown that the general Weissenberg number can also be used to characterize the elastic effects of non-Newtonian fluids in laminar flow.