  Periodically forced turbulence is used as a test case to evaluate the
predictions of two-equation and multiple-scale turbulence models in unsteady
flows. The limitations of the two-equation model are shown to originate in the
basic assumption of spectral equilibrium. A multiple-scale model based on a
picture of stepwise energy cascade overcomes some of these limitations, but the
absence of nonlocal interactions proves to lead to poor predictions of the time
variation of the dissipation rate. A new multiple-scale model that includes
nonlocal interactions is proposed and shown to reproduce the main features of
the frequency response correctly.
