Near transition, plane Couette flow takes the form of large-scale, oblique, and statistically
steady alternating bands of turbulent and laminar flow. Properties of these flows are
investigated using direct numerical simulation in a tilted computational domain. Four
regimes—uniform, intermittent, periodic, and localized—are characterized. The Fourier
spectrum along the direction of variation of the pattern is presented, and the component
corresponding to the pattern wavenumber is investigated as an order parameter. The mean …