Vortex tubes, spirals, and large-eddy simulation of turbulence

Progress in the quantitative modelling of turbulence using vortex-based models of the fine scales is reviewed. Recent work on the calculation of the spectrum of a passive scalar convecting and diffusing within a stretched-spiral vortex is briefly described. This is followed by a discussion of the application of ideas from the study of the vortex structure of the small scales of turbulence to the development of subgrid models for the large-eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows at large Reynolds numbers. Examples are given including the LES of rotating and non-rotating plane channel flow and of the mixing of a passive scalar by forced isotropic turbulence.