Turbulent flow over surfaces with spatially varying roughness. This project aims to improve understanding of the effect of spatial roughness transitions on turbulent flows. Fluids flowing over non-smooth surfaces influence our daily lives, such as water moving through a pipe, wind blowing over the Earth's surface or aircraft moving through air. The presence of surface roughness profoundly influences these flows. Though engineers have learnt to deal effectively with evenly distributed roughness, ....Turbulent flow over surfaces with spatially varying roughness. This project aims to improve understanding of the effect of spatial roughness transitions on turbulent flows. Fluids flowing over non-smooth surfaces influence our daily lives, such as water moving through a pipe, wind blowing over the Earth's surface or aircraft moving through air. The presence of surface roughness profoundly influences these flows. Though engineers have learnt to deal effectively with evenly distributed roughness, this is seldom encountered in reality. Rather, there are abrupt changes in roughness, for example at the edges of wind-farms or at rivets on aircraft. This project aims to investigate these important, but little understood, turbulent flows. Potential benefits include improved simulation, more efficient vehicle design and improved atmospheric and climate models.Read moreRead less
Making best use of biofuels – understanding the interactions between alcohol and hydrocarbon fuels in engine combustion. Biofuels are increasingly used as blending components for transport fuels. Biofuels possess much different chemical structures from conventional fuels, and can therefore interact with hydrocarbon fuels during engine combustion processes and consequently affect engine efficiency and emissions. This project aims to investigate the chemical interactions between representative com ....Making best use of biofuels – understanding the interactions between alcohol and hydrocarbon fuels in engine combustion. Biofuels are increasingly used as blending components for transport fuels. Biofuels possess much different chemical structures from conventional fuels, and can therefore interact with hydrocarbon fuels during engine combustion processes and consequently affect engine efficiency and emissions. This project aims to investigate the chemical interactions between representative compounds of biofuels (ethanol) and fossil fuels (n-heptane, iso-octane and toluene) during engine autoignition processes. The outcomes will fill a significant gap in our understanding for biofuel combustion chemistry, essential for building predictive combustion models, and will guide the best use of the precious Australian biofuel resources to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Read moreRead less
Wall turbulence control: beyond the canonical smooth wall case. This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in the area of wall turbulence by investigating how a rough wall turbulent boundary layer responds to changes, such as wall suction and blowing. The economic and environmental costs caused by the roughening of surfaces on moving vehicles is staggering in the transport industry (roads, rails, air and sea) and ultimately for Australia. This project will generate new knowledge to ascer ....Wall turbulence control: beyond the canonical smooth wall case. This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in the area of wall turbulence by investigating how a rough wall turbulent boundary layer responds to changes, such as wall suction and blowing. The economic and environmental costs caused by the roughening of surfaces on moving vehicles is staggering in the transport industry (roads, rails, air and sea) and ultimately for Australia. This project will generate new knowledge to ascertain whether or not turbulent flows over rough surfaces can be controlled or managed to achieve outcomes such as reducing the drag of a roughened bluff body, for example a ship whose hull is roughened by fouling. The project expects to improve understanding of wall turbulence control, and will lead to significant benefits such as improved control technologies and better prediction and description of wall turbulence.Read moreRead less
Designing textured roughness to control turbulent pipe flow. This project will combine a recent theoretical model of turbulent pipe flow with computer simulation to develop methods to control these flows (e.g. to increase mixing, reduce wall drag). Additionally we will extend the model so it can deal with many industrially significant flows of fluids carrying high concentrations of fine particles.
The cost of roughness: predicting the drag penalty of fouled ship hulls. Roughness on ship hulls is a prevalent global problem, causing up to 80% increases in resistance compared to ideal smooth surfaces. Targeting a key capability gap, this project aims to build practical tools for predicting the performance penalty in shipping due to hull roughness, requiring only hull observations as an input. Observations made with a custom-built underwater surface scanner will be combined with world-first l ....The cost of roughness: predicting the drag penalty of fouled ship hulls. Roughness on ship hulls is a prevalent global problem, causing up to 80% increases in resistance compared to ideal smooth surfaces. Targeting a key capability gap, this project aims to build practical tools for predicting the performance penalty in shipping due to hull roughness, requiring only hull observations as an input. Observations made with a custom-built underwater surface scanner will be combined with world-first laser-based flow measurements on the hull of an operating ship, and backed-up by complimentary laboratory experiments. This project will deliver an advanced fundamental understanding of hull roughness and enable more informed decisions for ship operators and regulatory bodies, leading to increased shipping efficiency.Read moreRead less
The colour of turbulence and the attached eddy hypothesis. This project aims to progress understanding of wall-bounded turbulence. These turbulent fluid flows are ubiquitous in nature and in engineering systems, directly affecting dispersion in the atmosphere and the energy consumption of land, sea and air vehicles. The understanding of these turbulent flows has been limited by a lack of verified theoretical models for the structure of wall turbulence. By combining unprecedented experiments with ....The colour of turbulence and the attached eddy hypothesis. This project aims to progress understanding of wall-bounded turbulence. These turbulent fluid flows are ubiquitous in nature and in engineering systems, directly affecting dispersion in the atmosphere and the energy consumption of land, sea and air vehicles. The understanding of these turbulent flows has been limited by a lack of verified theoretical models for the structure of wall turbulence. By combining unprecedented experiments with a novel dynamical systems approach, this project will enable development of effective turbulence control strategies, enhancing productivity in a wide range of applications. The findings of the research will enable models with predictive capability to design turbulence control schemes.Read moreRead less
Dissecting non-equilibrium effects in wall turbulence. This project aims to progress understanding of wall-bounded turbulent flows under non-equilibrium conditions. The focus is on turbulent flows over rough surfaces where the bulk flow decelerates along the streamwise length of the surface. Such flows are regularly encountered in important practical applications, such as over the trailing edge of an airplane wing or inside a flow diffuser, which are ubiquitous in industry. Novel experiments and ....Dissecting non-equilibrium effects in wall turbulence. This project aims to progress understanding of wall-bounded turbulent flows under non-equilibrium conditions. The focus is on turbulent flows over rough surfaces where the bulk flow decelerates along the streamwise length of the surface. Such flows are regularly encountered in important practical applications, such as over the trailing edge of an airplane wing or inside a flow diffuser, which are ubiquitous in industry. Novel experiments and numerical simulations will provide the definitive data needed in order to uncover the scaling laws of these flows, thus enabling their reliable prediction.Read moreRead less
Towards an event based model of combustion generated sound. This proposal will develop new tools for predicting combustion generated sound. Since combustion noise often limits system performance, these new tools could be used to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from power generation and transportation.
Flame-wall interactions in diesel engine environments. This project aims to advance the fundamental understanding of flame-wall interactions in diesel engines, which is currently very limited despite the wall's significant impact on combustion and pollutants. The aim is to perform the most comprehensive set of measurements to date in a high-pressure chamber and optically accessible engine, including planar imaging of key species and soot, and space-/time-resolved measurements of wall temperature ....Flame-wall interactions in diesel engine environments. This project aims to advance the fundamental understanding of flame-wall interactions in diesel engines, which is currently very limited despite the wall's significant impact on combustion and pollutants. The aim is to perform the most comprehensive set of measurements to date in a high-pressure chamber and optically accessible engine, including planar imaging of key species and soot, and space-/time-resolved measurements of wall temperature. These are intended to be complemented by the first transported probability density function modelling of a diesel spray flame that includes soot, radiation and wall heat transfer. The expected outcomes will greatly advance understanding of flame-wall interactions, thus contributing to the development of cleaner and more efficient engines.Read moreRead less
Nanostructure engineering of semiconductor nanowires for high performance thermoelectrics. This project aims to develop high-performance thermoelectric semiconductor nanowires for recovery of waste heat from automotive exhausts and industrial processes. The successful development of such technology would help save energy, reduce carbon emissions and create enormous economical and environmental benefits for Australia and the world.