We study the dynamics of a flexible fiber freely moving in a three-dimensional fully developed turbulent field and present a phenomenological theory to describe the interaction between the fiber elasticity and the turbulent flow. This theory leads to the identification of two distinct regimes of flapping, which we validate against direct numerical simulations fully resolving the fiber dynamics. The main result of our analysis is the identification of a flapping regime where the fiber, despite its elasticity, is slaved to the turbulent fluctuations. In this regime the fiber can be used to measure two-point statistical observables of turbulence, including scaling exponents of velocity structure functions, the sign of the energy cascade and the energy flux of turbulence, as well as the characteristic times of the eddies within the inertial range of scales. Our results are expected to have a deep impact on the experimental turbulence research as a new way, accurate and efficient, to measure two-point, and more generally multipoint, statistics of turbulence.

• Received 2 February 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.044501