Contact Information:
e-mail:
phone: (217) 333-1318
fax: (217) 333-5052
205 Roger Adams Lab
MC-712, Box C-3
600 S. Mathews Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Our research is being carried out in the areas of turbulence, wave generation, two-phase flow, and computer simulation of turbulence. Researchers believe that coherent structures very close to the wall over which a turbulent fluid is flowing control the transfer of energy from the mean flow to the turbulence. We use both laboratory and supercomputer experiments to study these structures and attempt to control turbulence by changing the characteristics of these wall eddies. This involves the use of drag-reducing polymers and of wavy walls. Laboratory experiments include single-point measurements with laser-Doppler velocimetry and multipoint measurements with pulsed-laser velocimetry.
Direct simulations of temperature fields for flow in a channel and for flow over a wavy wall are being used to study and improve present methods for analyzing turbulent transport. Of particular interest is the testing of present physical models by looking at the effect of Prandtl number. Lagrangian methods are being used to describe turbulent dispersion of fluid particles, molecular species, and solid particles.
A number of fundamental studies, particularly in the area of wave generation, hydrodynamic stability, and particle mixing, are being carried out to understand gas-liquid flow systems. Gas and liquid flowing in a pipeline can take different configurations. We are studying the microscopic interaction between the phases in these different configurations. Results of these studies are being used to predict when and how changes of interface configuration occur and to develop better design relations for particular flow regimes.
Brooke, J. and T. J. Hanratty. Origin of turbulence-producing eddies in a channel flow. Physics of Fluids A 5:1011-1022 (1993).
Hanratty, T. J., B. D.Woods, I. Iliopoulos, and L. Pan. The roles of interfacial stability and particle dynamics in multiphase flows: A personal viewpoint. International Journal of Multiphase Flow 26:169-190 (2000).
Iliopoulos, I. and T. J. Hanratty. Turbulent dispersion in a non-homogeneous field. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 392:45-71 (1999).
Warholic, M. D., H. Massah, and T. J. Hanratty. Influence of drag-reducing polymers on turbulence: Effects of Reynolds number, concentration and mixing. Experiments in Fluids 27:461-472 (1999).
