A laboratory facility for turbulence measurements around obstacles in oceanic flows
Abstract
The PI requests funds to purchase a Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) system to enhance the quality of his currently funded Office of Naval Research (ONR) research projects which includes a YIP award. These ongoing projects focus on improved understanding and modeling of flow dynamics and turbulent mixing around obstacles (underwater topographic features) in oceanic flows using primarily numerical simulations. The main objectives are: (i) to obtain detailed insights on the flow dynamics past a single obstacle as well as multiple obstacles in a number of basic flow configurations consisting of currents and tides in both idealized open channel domains as well as realistic topographic features in open and coastal ocean settings, and (ii) formulate parameterizations for lateral as well as vertical mixing as functions of important non-dimensional parameters governing the physics. The ability to make high resolution turbulence measurements in the laboratory will not only provide validation of numerical simulation results but also allow for detailed investigation of the flow dynamics and structure in the vicinity of obstacles. To this end, the PI is currently establishing an environmental fluid dynamics laboratory (EFDL) at Colorado State University that is envisaged to have a rich combination of computational, experimental and theoretical capabilities for tackling ongoing and future ONR funded research projects. This laboratory will also be instrumental in the education of our research team currently consisting of 6 graduate students and 2 postdoctoral scholars in fluid dynamics. We propose to use the LDV system that will be acquired through this DURIP proposal to make turbulence measurements in a number of laboratory scale flow configurations ranging from detailed turbulence measurements around a single obstacle to flow measurements around multiple obstacles. The LDV system will also be used in other related flow configurations such as mixing by internal waves over topography.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512886
Entities
People
- Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy
Organizations
- Colorado State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy