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EPSRC Reference: EP/G055602/1
Title: Global conservation of momentum applied to environmental flows
Principal Investigator: Eames, Professor I
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Department: Mechanical Engineering
Organisation: UCL
Scheme: Overseas Travel Grants (OTGS)
Starts: 02 April 2009 Ends: 01 July 2009 Value (£): 5,875
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Multiphase Flow
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
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Summary on Grant Application Form
The application of global momentum conservation principles to multiphase flows is a relatively new approach to understand what happens when discrete elements move and disappear (see references in Part 1). This is important, for instance, when vapour bubbles rise and condense, or fuel droplets move and evaporate. After the elements have disappeared (in the sense that there is no boundary on which the kinematic condition is applied), a vortex is left behind. The momentum approach enables the final state of the flow signature and properties of the vortex to related to the initial properties of the droplets or the history of forces acting on the bubbles. These ideas and concepts have been tested experimentally and theoretically, and the framework is complete for the case of linear momentum.The aim of this current proposal is to extend this research to problems in environmental fluids mechanics. Specifically there are two areas of interest here : free surface flows and self-propelled bodies. Quantifying the momentum of wave is known to be fraught with problems; for wave trains it is more usual to discuss momentum flux [1]. One area where applying momentum conservation might be useful is the problem of compact local wave groups or tsunamis. The second area of interest is in self-propelled bodies, such as submarines. The critical issue is the flow signature they generate when they move unsteadily and whether these signatures can be detected. Both these problems are important in their own right and some aspects may be understood by applying global conservation of momentum. The key problem is setting down the conceptual framework in a rigorous manner and to test these ideas experimentally.The importance of visiting Arizona State University is underlined by two research areas in which it leads internationally: (a) Depressed tsunami dynamics. Tsunami research is currently quite active owing to the devistating effect of the Indian Ocean tsunami December 25th 2006. Prof Fernando (ASU) led the NSF scientific fact-finding group to Sri-Lanka and the results have been disseminated quite widely. One of the key aspects of their recent experimental work on depressed tsunamis was the ability to remove the tail of the depressed tsunami using, what they refer to as a leaky paddle . The experimental work was undertaken a DTA student from UCL who stayed at ASU for 3 months. (b) Subsurface signatures generated by moving submarines. Voropayev and his colleagues have been particularly active in this area having published half a dozen papers on the topic in the last few years. Voropayev is a leader in the vortex dynamics in stratified and homogeneous fluids and he has developed a very general understanding of the develop of vortex signatures interacting with the free surface, caused by the unsteady rectilinear motion of a submarine (modelled as a jet). Using similarity theory and scaling analysis enabled Voropayev to make some clear statements about the revealing surface signatures.
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