Turbulence is a key feature of solid-liquid two-phase flows, and the pulsating velocity is the basis for calculating turbulence characteristics. In general, the method of mathematical expectation is used to calculate pulsating velocity. However, this method does not reflect the fluctuating state of the instantaneous velocity. Therefore, the method of extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition (ESMD) is adopted to calculate pulsating velocity and turbulence characteristics. The ESMD involves two stages, namely, modal decomposition and time-frequency analysis. The optimal adaptive global mean (AGM), which is the result of modal decomposition, can accurately reflect the fluctuation state of the instantaneous velocity, and the theory of the pulsating velocity defined on this basis is reasonable. Moreover, the flow pattern and turbulence behaviour of a two-phase flow can be predicted using the calculated turbulence characteristics. The method is used to analyse the pulsating velocity of the flume, and its rationality in theoretically predicting the turbulence behaviour of flume flows is demonstrated.