Measuring estuarine turbulence: opening blocked estuaries correctly to avoid ecological catastrophes. The unique estuaries of southern Australia have limited tidal effects and minimal summer river flows, allowing a sandbar to dam their mouths during this period. The high water levels that can result affect landowners so catchment managers artificially break these sandbars. Such practices have had catastrophic effects on the vulnerable estuarine ecosystems. Our project will provide critical eleme ....Measuring estuarine turbulence: opening blocked estuaries correctly to avoid ecological catastrophes. The unique estuaries of southern Australia have limited tidal effects and minimal summer river flows, allowing a sandbar to dam their mouths during this period. The high water levels that can result affect landowners so catchment managers artificially break these sandbars. Such practices have had catastrophic effects on the vulnerable estuarine ecosystems. Our project will provide critical elements of models of the dynamics of the artificial opening, allowing managers to predict the vulnerable periods. It combines new applications of state-of-the-art turbulence sensors and water-current profilers with other standard instrumentation in this situation.Read moreRead less
A new framework for flow and mixing at the sediment-water interface. Ensuring the sustainability of Australia's freshwater resources is vital to the nation. This project addresses a fundamental, and as yet unanswered, question in our efforts to maintain the quality of our freshwater systems: "How important are the sediments?"
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100032
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$900,000.00
Summary
Access to the National Computing Infrastructure peak supercomputing facility. This project aims to continue the access of Intersect’s computational researchers to the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) peak supercomputing facility. The peak supercomputing facility at NCI is critical collaborative infrastructure on a globally competitive scale. Transformative advances in science and technology increasingly rely on high performance computing capabilities across a wide range of research di ....Access to the National Computing Infrastructure peak supercomputing facility. This project aims to continue the access of Intersect’s computational researchers to the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) peak supercomputing facility. The peak supercomputing facility at NCI is critical collaborative infrastructure on a globally competitive scale. Transformative advances in science and technology increasingly rely on high performance computing capabilities across a wide range of research disciplines. Ongoing access to this facility will allow researchers to tackle major problems in national priority areas including energy, health, and environmental change.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL120100017
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,215,016.00
Summary
Turbulence: physical modelling and application to aquatic ecosystem functions. Turbulent fluid motions in aquatic systems are critical for many aspects of water health. This project will quantify the effects of these motions in an unprecedented way by addressing the long-standing problem of turbulence, and the outcomes will be applicable to the essential task of strengthening Australia’s water security.
The role of turbulence in transporting waterborne material within streambed sediments and across the sediment-water interface. The sediments of rivers, lakes and coastal ocean filter waterborne contaminants. This project uses novel experimental techniques to investigate the role of turbulence in transporting contaminants between water and boundary sediments. This project will inform better management of waterborne contaminants with benefits for human and ecosystem health.
Predictive capability for particle capture in aquatic ecosystems. This project investigates the fundamental fluid mechanics of particle capture, whereby suspended particles contact and adhere to a solid structure. This process is examined in productive and biodiverse ecosystems (such as coral reefs and seagrass meadows) whose health, productivity and propagation are directly controlled by particle capture. Existing formulations for particle capture are valid only under highly idealised condition ....Predictive capability for particle capture in aquatic ecosystems. This project investigates the fundamental fluid mechanics of particle capture, whereby suspended particles contact and adhere to a solid structure. This process is examined in productive and biodiverse ecosystems (such as coral reefs and seagrass meadows) whose health, productivity and propagation are directly controlled by particle capture. Existing formulations for particle capture are valid only under highly idealised conditions that are grossly unrepresentative of the complexity of ecosystem flows. The goal of this project is to use a coupled computational-experimental campaign to develop predictive capability for particle capture in ecosystems, where the flow can be turbulent and/or wave-dominated and the biological structures complex.Read moreRead less
Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. This project aims to understand the environmental impact of turbines, by studying how an optimised array of turbines interacts with the downstream turbulent tidal flow. Tidal power could contribute substantially to Australia's Renewable Energy goals. Australia's coastlines produce over 2.4 terajoules of tidal energy, and research into turbine optimisation, array design and environmental impact is ne ....Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. Performance enhancement of tidal turbine arrays. This project aims to understand the environmental impact of turbines, by studying how an optimised array of turbines interacts with the downstream turbulent tidal flow. Tidal power could contribute substantially to Australia's Renewable Energy goals. Australia's coastlines produce over 2.4 terajoules of tidal energy, and research into turbine optimisation, array design and environmental impact is needed to exploit this potential. Fluid dynamics and optimisation researchers will design an improved vertical axis tidal turbine for use in the Torres Strait Islands. This project could improve tidal turbine design and turbine placement designs, and improve understanding of interactions between turbines and the maritime environment.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882471
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
Three-Dimensional Optical Laser Velocimetry for the HRNBLWT (High Reynolds Number Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel). The experimental information that can be gained from this infrastructure would lead to significant advances in understanding turbulent flows, which would impact a broad range of engineering and geophysical fields. Some specific examples include the development of efficient turbulence control strategies for the reduction of skin-friction drag and improved combustion processes, resulting ....Three-Dimensional Optical Laser Velocimetry for the HRNBLWT (High Reynolds Number Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel). The experimental information that can be gained from this infrastructure would lead to significant advances in understanding turbulent flows, which would impact a broad range of engineering and geophysical fields. Some specific examples include the development of efficient turbulence control strategies for the reduction of skin-friction drag and improved combustion processes, resulting in not only better fuel efficiency for vehicles but also reduced CO2 and pollutant emissions. Significant advances could also be made in the area of understanding the dispersion of particles, including pollutants, in the atmosphere; wind turbine design and implementation strategies, and climate change modelling.Read moreRead less
The structure of turbulent boundary layers. This research has an enormous impact in many fields of engineering - for example, in aeronautical, mechanical, chemical, meteorological and biomedical engineering. The resulting energy and economic savings and the reduction in atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gasses will ultimately impact on areas such as global climatic change and the energy sustainability of our urban environment, thus influencing the well-being of all people living on this plan ....The structure of turbulent boundary layers. This research has an enormous impact in many fields of engineering - for example, in aeronautical, mechanical, chemical, meteorological and biomedical engineering. The resulting energy and economic savings and the reduction in atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gasses will ultimately impact on areas such as global climatic change and the energy sustainability of our urban environment, thus influencing the well-being of all people living on this planet. This research project will result in technological advancement and provide important training for future generations of researchers. This will entrench the Australian engineering and scientific community as world leaders in this area of scientific research.Read moreRead less
The structure of turbulence at high Reynolds numbers. The aim of this project is to gain a physical understanding of the process of turbulence in fluid motion, focusing on boundary layers adjacent to the surface of bodies, such as submarines and turbines. As turbulence is of fundamental importance in many engineering tasks, developing our understanding of the mechanisms involved will lead to progress in many areas. For example, accurate prediction of drag on vehicles, aircraft and ships, result ....The structure of turbulence at high Reynolds numbers. The aim of this project is to gain a physical understanding of the process of turbulence in fluid motion, focusing on boundary layers adjacent to the surface of bodies, such as submarines and turbines. As turbulence is of fundamental importance in many engineering tasks, developing our understanding of the mechanisms involved will lead to progress in many areas. For example, accurate prediction of drag on vehicles, aircraft and ships, resulting in reductions in fuel consumption. The wind tunnel used in this project is the largest of its type in the world, enabling pioneering experiments to be undertaken which will extend our understanding of the physics of turbulence for applied flows.
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