Stretching in a model of a turbulent flow (Q1008638)

A multi-scaled, chaotic flow known as the Kinematic Simulation (KS) model of turbulence [\textit{J. C. H. Fung, J. C. R. Hunt, N. A. Malik} and \textit{R. J. Perkins}, J. Fluid Mech. 236, 281--318 (1992; Zbl 0764.76028)] is considered. For this model, the dependence of Lyapunov exponents on various characteristics of the flow is investigated. It is shown that the KS model yields a power law relation between the Reynolds number and the maximum Lyapunov exponent, which is similar to that for a turbulent flow with the same energy spectrum. The obtained results show that the Lyapunov exponents are sensitive to the advection of small eddies by large eddies , which can be explained by considering the Lagrangian correlation time of the smallest scales. The relation between the number of stagnation points within a flow and the maximum Lyapunov exponent is outlined. The results suggest a linear dependence between the two characteristics.