Shear effects in nonhomogeneous turbulence

Motivated by recent experimental and numerical results, a simple unifying p icture of intermittency in turbulent shear flows is suggested. Integral str ucture functions (ISF), taking into account explicitly the shear intensity, are introduced on phenomenological grounds. ISF can exhibit a universal sc aling behavior, independent of the shear intensity. This picture is in sati sfactory agreement with both experimental and numerical data. Possible exte nsion to convective turbulence and implication on closure conditions for la rge-eddy simulation of nonhomogeneous flows are briefly discussed.