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
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
The effect of non-homogeneous roughness on full-scale drag predictions. Partnering with AkzoNobel, one of the world’s leading suppliers of anti-fouling marine coatings, this project will deliver new tools for predicting the drag penalty on ships fouled by the settlement of marine organisms on the hull. All available predictions assume a homogeneous distribution of roughness. Yet we know biofouling is always patchy, hence prediction methods need an upgrade. Making a compelling business case to sh ....The effect of non-homogeneous roughness on full-scale drag predictions. Partnering with AkzoNobel, one of the world’s leading suppliers of anti-fouling marine coatings, this project will deliver new tools for predicting the drag penalty on ships fouled by the settlement of marine organisms on the hull. All available predictions assume a homogeneous distribution of roughness. Yet we know biofouling is always patchy, hence prediction methods need an upgrade. Making a compelling business case to ship operators is contingent on such predictions, where the cost of anti-fouling solutions is weighed against that of continued operation with a rough hull. The novel tools developed here will therefore lead to increased ship efficiency by empowering ship operators to optimise hull cleaning and repainting schedules.
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