Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S23292/01
Title:	Laboratory and numerical experiments of fractal-generated turbulence
Principal Investigator:	Vassilicos, Professor JC
Other Investigators:	Morrison, Professor J
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Aeronautics
Organisation:	Imperial College London
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 2003	Ends:	30 September 2006	Value (£):	256,316
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Aerodynamics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The proposed research consists of novel laboratory and numerical experiments of turbulence generated by fractal objects in order to investigate the multiple scale geometry and nonlinear dynamics of turbulent flows including interscale energy transfer and scalings of energy spectra, drag and dissipation by attempting to modify these aspects of the flow. Traditionally the turbulence is forced only at the large scales in laboratory and numerical experiments. The laboratory experiments proposed here are designed to modify the internal range dynamics of the turbulence by placing fractal objects in the wind tunnel, which amounts to forcing the flow over a wide range of scales. The accompanying numerical experiments will be based on Direct Numerical Simulations of turbulence forced over a broad range of scales with an increasing power law dependence on wavenumber The power law is determined by the fractal dimension of the fractal stirrer. Is there a fractal object which matches the multiple-scale geometry of Kolmogorov turbulence? DNS databases will be established, and as for the laboratory experiments tests of isotropy and homogeneity will be made, and quantities such as energy spectra will be calculated. The DNS data will also enable analysis of a far greater range of flow quantities than the laboratory experiments, e.g. interscale kinetic energy transfer rates and statistics of angles between the vorticity and strain rate eigenvectors can be calculated. The research will greatly enhance our understanding of the internal structure of turbulence, could lead to improved turbulence modelling and/or drag implications for novel
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Organisation Website:	http://www.imperial.ac.uk