Joint PhD with RWTH Aachen: Boundary layers with embedded streamwise vortices

While the past decades have seen substantial advancements in our capacity to numerically model wall-bounded turbulent flows, wall-flows encountering additional perturbations remain a significant challenge. Such flows include the effects of heterogeneous roughness, pressure gradients and additional strainrates, or combinations of these. For many aerodynamic and hydrodynamic applications, a prevalent circumstance is the presence of organized streamwise vortices that evolve as a secondary flow embedded within a boundary layer.

The purpose of this project is to investigate how boundary layers with this perturbation evolve in the downstream direction and respond to streamwise pressure gradients. A primary focus will be on the detailed physics of the embedded vortex flow evolution, with the aim of gaining insights on how to efficiently model such effects in the RANS or hybrid RANS simulations that are useful to industry. Thus, the experiments will focus on high-resolution PIV of the streamwise vortex system that forms in a laminar boundary layer junction flow. These experiments will be conducted in a small water channel at Melbourne. To complement these experiments, high resolution direct numerical simulations (DNS) will be conducted at Aachen. Accordingly, the PhD student’s efforts will focus on the analysis of the DNS in Germany and conducting and analysing the experiments in Australia.

Supervisors:

The University of Melbourne: Joe Klewicki and Jimmy Philip

RWTH Aachen: Wolfgang Schroeder, Matthias Meinke, and Michael Klaas.


If successful, the PhD candidate will be enrolled at both the University of Melbourne and RWTH Aachen. The candidate will be co-supervised by supervisors at both institutions, will be based at the University of Melbourne and will spend at least twelve months at RWTH Aachen.