| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/I004785/1 |
| Title: |
Is Fine-Scale Turbulence Universal? |
| Principal Investigator: |
Ganapathisubramani, Professor B |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Faculty of Engineering & the Environment |
| Organisation: |
University of Southampton |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research |
| Starts: |
16 May 2011 |
Ends: |
15 May 2016 |
Value (£): |
737,982
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
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19 May 2010
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Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering
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Announced
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Most flows of practical interest are turbulent and hence the understanding of these flows is important for both engineering and fundamental reasons. Unfortunately, turbulence remains ``the most important unsolved problem of classical physics''. It consists of a wide range of three-dimensional motions, from large and slow to small and fast. The smallest (and most rapid) motions dissipate the kinetic energy of the flow and determine drag on bodies, dispersion of pollutants and chemical mixing. Unfortunately the very smallness of these motions has, until recently, made them inaccessible to both experiments and computations in flows of practical importance. Predictions of turbulent flows have thus been based on uncertain theories and models of these ``fine scales which are assumed to be the same for all flows i.e. universal. No-one knows if this is true or not. Answering this question requires measurements of a range of flows using techniques capable of resolving their full structure in space as it evolves in time. New techniques developed by the applicants have, for the first time, made the full measurement of these motions possible. Similar advances in computational methods has provided the opportunity for meaningful comparisons with such measurements.In this collaborative initiative between Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge and the University of Southampton, we aim to develop and employ a series of advanced laser diagnostic techniques to measure the time-resolved, three-dimensional features of the fine-scales in a series of `canonical' turbulent shear flows in order to test the hypothesis of universality. Measurements will also be taken at Reynolds numbers accessible to Direct Numerical Simulations especially carried out with this purpose for cross-comparison and validation. The experimental techniques will be based on cinematographic scanning and tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) techniques. Regardless of whether the universality hypothesis holds or not, the necessary information to formulate physics based fine-scale models that can account for the multi-scale interactions will be obtained. The data as well as the 3D PIV software will be made available online for researchers in the UK and around the world.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.soton.ac.uk |