Unravelling the scale interactions of wall turbulence: experiment, physical modelling, next-generation numerical simulation. Turbulent fluid flows near solid surfaces are present in many areas of everyday life: from the drag experienced on air, sea and road vehicles, to governing the mixing processes in combustion chambers, and in the transport of pollutants and particulates in our cities and towns. Unfortunately our understanding of these complex flows is limited, and hence so to is our ability ....Unravelling the scale interactions of wall turbulence: experiment, physical modelling, next-generation numerical simulation. Turbulent fluid flows near solid surfaces are present in many areas of everyday life: from the drag experienced on air, sea and road vehicles, to governing the mixing processes in combustion chambers, and in the transport of pollutants and particulates in our cities and towns. Unfortunately our understanding of these complex flows is limited, and hence so to is our ability to model or control them. This project addresses this problem with the goal of providing new physical insights and models that can be used for efficient and accurate numerical simulations. The simulations will not only compute the average statistics but also the time-varying properties, which are crucial in many engineering and environmental processes.Read moreRead less
Stability, transition and heat transfer in thermally coupled natural convection boundary layers. Thermally coupled natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates two fluids at different temperatures. Such configurations occur, for example, at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator. Improved building heating/cooling and ventilation, and more efficient refrigeration systems, require a thoroug ....Stability, transition and heat transfer in thermally coupled natural convection boundary layers. Thermally coupled natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates two fluids at different temperatures. Such configurations occur, for example, at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator. Improved building heating/cooling and ventilation, and more efficient refrigeration systems, require a thorough understanding and predictive capability for these flows. This project will develop experimental, numerical and analytic tools to predict these flows and provide simple scaling relations for bulk flow parameters such as the heat transfer across the wall, which will be of immediate use in the associated industries.Read moreRead less
A novel approach to controlling boundary-layer separation. This project will involve fundamental research into the control of the fluid dynamical phenomena of boundary-layer separation and transition to turbulence. The project will be built upon a firm foundation of mathematical modelling of the complex behaviour of fluid flows that are near the onset of flow separation or turbulence. The project will produce results that will permit the development of control strategies that can be implemented ....A novel approach to controlling boundary-layer separation. This project will involve fundamental research into the control of the fluid dynamical phenomena of boundary-layer separation and transition to turbulence. The project will be built upon a firm foundation of mathematical modelling of the complex behaviour of fluid flows that are near the onset of flow separation or turbulence. The project will produce results that will permit the development of control strategies that can be implemented in a wide variety of important technological applications, such as drag reduction in the aerospace and ship industries as well as the control of stall (or loss of lift) in modern aircraft.Read moreRead less
Practical wall-turbulence drag reduction through adaptive control. Long term increases in the price of aviation fuel disproportionately impacts on Australian carriers, given our geographic isolation and the resulting greater percentage of long-haul flights. The resulting higher fares will also have a direct impact on international tourism to Australia. One way to reduce the impact of rising fuel cost, and to reduce CO2 and other emissions at the same time, is to decrease drag on aircraft. This ....Practical wall-turbulence drag reduction through adaptive control. Long term increases in the price of aviation fuel disproportionately impacts on Australian carriers, given our geographic isolation and the resulting greater percentage of long-haul flights. The resulting higher fares will also have a direct impact on international tourism to Australia. One way to reduce the impact of rising fuel cost, and to reduce CO2 and other emissions at the same time, is to decrease drag on aircraft. This project will develop understanding in wall turbulence and adaptive control, and use this to experimentally demonstrate active reductions in skin friction drag. The results are equally applicable to a range of other applications including sea transport, pipe flows and combustor designs.Read moreRead less
Enhancement of Heat Transfer by Stimulated Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Boundary Layers on Heated Walls. The aim of this project is to increase the heat transfer from heated vertical surfaces to an ambient fluid by stimulating an early transition to turbulence. Such passive heat transfer occurs in heat transfer devices, natural ventilation systems and in many environmental settings. Enhanced heat transfer will greatly improve the performance of these systems. The project will ....Enhancement of Heat Transfer by Stimulated Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Boundary Layers on Heated Walls. The aim of this project is to increase the heat transfer from heated vertical surfaces to an ambient fluid by stimulating an early transition to turbulence. Such passive heat transfer occurs in heat transfer devices, natural ventilation systems and in many environmental settings. Enhanced heat transfer will greatly improve the performance of these systems. The project will provide the length scales, frequency and amplification rate for the occurence of the secondary spanwise mode that is the primary mechanism for turbulent transition. This will provide guidance for the development of appropriate roughness elements and heating length and time scales.Read moreRead less
Systematically model the large-scale complexity of turbulent floods and thin film flows. This project continues development of new models, and computer
simulation, of turbulent flood, river and estuarine flow. The models
will be based systematically upon established turbulence models to
resolve accurately the complex physical processes. The development of
new and robust computer models for thin layers of coating fluid will
aid many industrial processes. We also aim to provide correct ini ....Systematically model the large-scale complexity of turbulent floods and thin film flows. This project continues development of new models, and computer
simulation, of turbulent flood, river and estuarine flow. The models
will be based systematically upon established turbulence models to
resolve accurately the complex physical processes. The development of
new and robust computer models for thin layers of coating fluid will
aid many industrial processes. We also aim to provide correct initial
conditions and boundary conditions for simpler cases of the above
flows. The approach leads to a greater understanding of the range of
applicability of the models through better estimating the errors in the
modelling process. The project develops a fundamental enabling
methodology for engineering and the sciences.
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Investigation and optimisation of displacement ventilation and cooling systems. An accurate optimisation design tool for cooling and ventilation will be of considerable benefit to the Australian building/construction industry, and will lead to a reduction in energy consumption, thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand chall ....Investigation and optimisation of displacement ventilation and cooling systems. An accurate optimisation design tool for cooling and ventilation will be of considerable benefit to the Australian building/construction industry, and will lead to a reduction in energy consumption, thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand challenge areas of science, and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers trained in this area will be well placed to make a significant contribution to the new technologies needed to address the major environmental problems currently being faced.Read moreRead less
Turbulent fountains in stratified fluids with opposing buoyancy flux. Improved design tools will be developed for use in industries which must deal with turbulent fountains in stratified fluids. These tools will assist in the design of more efficient apparatus, reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of ....Turbulent fountains in stratified fluids with opposing buoyancy flux. Improved design tools will be developed for use in industries which must deal with turbulent fountains in stratified fluids. These tools will assist in the design of more efficient apparatus, reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand challenge areas of science, and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers trained in this will provide continuing service to Australia in many areas of advanced engineering and science. Read moreRead less
An Investigation Into Fountains Interacting With Both Free Surface and Solid Boundaries. This project will produce an improved understanding of the behavior of fountains interacting with both free surface and solid boundaries. Such flows occur in many environmental and industrial processes and, in particular, the interaction of fountain with boundaries will have a significant influence on the overall performance of the processes. This investigation will combine experiments, numerical simulations ....An Investigation Into Fountains Interacting With Both Free Surface and Solid Boundaries. This project will produce an improved understanding of the behavior of fountains interacting with both free surface and solid boundaries. Such flows occur in many environmental and industrial processes and, in particular, the interaction of fountain with boundaries will have a significant influence on the overall performance of the processes. This investigation will combine experiments, numerical simulations and scaling analysis to provide new insight into the physics governing the behavior of these impinging fountains. Turbulence models will be developed and validated and scaling formulae will be obtained providing relationships for the basic flow properties in terms of the control parameters.Read moreRead less
Freshing, mixing and purging of riverine saline ponds by freshwater overflow. Develop a model to accurately predict the full details of flow in saline river ponds subjected to a freshwater overflow. Such ponds are ubiquitous in Australia's inland rivers, have low oxygen and high nutrient and salinity levels and are associated with poor water quality, both in the pond and downstream during flow events. The model will allow precise determination of the river flow rates required to fully purge pond ....Freshing, mixing and purging of riverine saline ponds by freshwater overflow. Develop a model to accurately predict the full details of flow in saline river ponds subjected to a freshwater overflow. Such ponds are ubiquitous in Australia's inland rivers, have low oxygen and high nutrient and salinity levels and are associated with poor water quality, both in the pond and downstream during flow events. The model will allow precise determination of the river flow rates required to fully purge ponds and the downstream effect of the low quality pond water on the riverine environment and will also assist in the devlopment of rule of thumb scaling formula that will be incorporated into a one-dimensional flow prediction model being developed by the industrial partner.Read moreRead less