EPSRC DLA Studentship - Inter-Scale Causality in Wall-Bounded Turbulence

An EPSRC DLA Studentship on Inter-Scale Causality in Wall-Bounded Turbulence is open in the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.

The project aims to develop a new, spectral framework to analyse and understand wall turbulence, by quantifying how turbulent eddies of different lengthscales interact with each other through the non-linear, advective term in the momentum equations. The idea is then to use this framework to map inter-scale causality, characterising the turbulent cascade, and to identify the essential paths in these maps, with applications to reduced-order modelling and flow control. The project will also aim to use these maps to understand how the dynamics of the turbulent cascade and turbulent dissipation are altered in flows over complex and textured surfaces, compared to those over smooth walls.

The student will conduct high-fidelity, time- and space-resolved direct simulations of turbulence over smooth and rough/complex surfaces. The analysis will be data-driven, requiring new postprocessing tools to handle large volumes of data, with a possible use of machine-learning tools.

Applicants should have, or be expected to gain a high 2:1, preferably a 1st in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, Maths (fluids/applied), or a related subject. A good knowledge or experience in fluid mechanics, calculus and differential equations and numerics is required.