| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/P004687/1 |
| Title: |
Fluid dynamic properties of irregular, multi-scale rough surfaces |
| Principal Investigator: |
Busse, Dr A |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
School of Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Glasgow |
| Scheme: |
First Grant - Revised 2009 |
| Starts: |
13 March 2017 |
Ends: |
12 March 2018 |
Value (£): |
100,764
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Aerodynamics |
Continuum Mechanics |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Surfaces roughness affects energy efficiency and maintenance costs in many industrial
sectors. Rough surfaces impair the performance of turbomachinery and marine energy harvesting sys-
tems. Surface roughness caused by fouling increases the drag of ships and aircraft.
An accurate prediction of the impacts of roughness is a prerequisite for the design of resilient systems
and the economic scheduling of maintenance cycles for machinery affected by surface roughness built-up e.g.
due to surface fouling or erosion.
Surface roughness increases fluid dynamic drag and cause a downwards shift in the near-wall velocity profile called the roughness function.
The fluid dynamic roughness effect is influenced both by the roughness height and the roughness topography.
Engineering rough surfaces with the same roughness height but different topographies can give rise to
roughness function values that differ by a factor of four.
While the relationship between roughness height and drag is well understood, the relationship
between roughness topography and fluid dynamic properties remains unclear, making an accurate prediction
of the fluid dynamic properies of a rough surface impossible.
In this project, surface simulations methods from tribology will be used to generate realistic random
rough surfaces with specified topographical parameters. Direct numerical simulations of turbulent channel
flow over the surfaces will be used to obtain their fluid dynamic properties with the aim to establish
relationships between topographical parameters and quantities such as the fluid dynamic drag, the roughness function
and near-wall turbulence intensity levels. The new relationships will enable the development of better
turbulence models for typical industrial computational fluid dynamics simulations that can take
surface topography effects into account. This will provide the basis for a more accurate prediction of
the impact of roughness in a wide range of engineering systems including the marine energy sector,
where bio-fouling and corrosion lead to strong surface roughness effects.
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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.gla.ac.uk |