The streamwise and transverse velocities are measured simultaneously in isotropic grid turbulence at relatively high Reynolds numbers ${\mathrm{Re}}_{\lambda }\simeq 110–330.$ Using a conditional averaging technique, we extract typical intermittency patterns that are consistent with velocity profiles of a model for a vortex tube, i.e., Burgers vortex. The radii of the vortex tubes are several of the Kolmogorov length, regardless of the Reynolds number. Using the distribution of an interval between successive enhancements of a small-scale velocity increment, we study the spatial distribution of vortex tubes. The vortex tubes tend to cluster together. This tendency is increasingly significant with the Reynolds number. Using statistics of velocity increments, we also study the energetical importance of vortex tubes as a function of the scale. The vortex tubes are important over the background flow at small scales especially below the Taylor microscale. At a fixed scale, the importance is increasingly significant with the Reynolds number.

• Received 20 May 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.67.016305