Design and calibration of a water tunnel for skin friction research

Abstract

A new water tunnel facility has been designed for application in skin friction and boundary layer research. The closed loop, recirculating facility with working section 200 χ 600 χ 2400 mm and test surface 600 χ 1000 mm has been designed to operate at working section flow speeds of up to 2 ms^-1 (Reynolds number based on test surface length 2.2 χ 10⁶). A force balance enables the direct measurement of drag on test surfaces. Hot film, pitot and multi-hole pressure probes are used to investigate the near wall flow.

Keywords:

• Water tunnel
• skin friction
• drag
• biofouling
• biofilm

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J E Sargison

Dr Jane Sargison is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania, School of Engineering, and a Program Leader in the Centre for Renewable Energy and Power Systems. She completed her DPhil at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2001, where her research topic was on the aerodynamic and heat transfer optimisation of film cooling technology for application to gas turbines, funded by Rolls Royce, UK. Her research interests are in the fluid and thermal dynamics of energy systems, particularly related to renewable energy technology. She maintains a keen interest in industry-related research, having managed three recent Australian Research Council Linkage Projects, and a number of smaller industry funded grants.

A F Barton

Dr Andrew Barton is a Senior Water Resources Engineer at GWMWater, responsible for providing leadership in and the strategic planning of the operation of the regulated water supply systems. Andrew also holds adjunct positions at the University of Ballarat (Centre for Informatics and Applied Optimisation) and Victoria University (Institute for Sustainability and Innovation). Andrew’s main areas of expertise are civil engineering hydraulics and hydrology, experimental fluid mechanics, integrated water cycle management, and general water resources engineering. He finds interdisciplinary research particularly interesting and rewarding, especially the nexus between engineering hydraulics and biology/ecology.

G J Walker

Greg Walker completed science and engineering degrees at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), and subsequently obtained a PhD there for a study of boundary layer behaviour on axial compressor blades. His whole professional career was spent at the University of Tasmania, apart from periods as a visiting researcher at the Whittle Laboratory, Cambridge University, UK, and NAVAIR Research Professor in Aeronautics at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Prior to his retirement from teaching in 2005, Greg was a Reader in Mechanical Engineering and Deputy Head of the UTAS School of Engineering. Since then he has held the position of Visiting Research Professor, and remains active in research and consulting work on a range of industrial fluid mechanics problems related to aeronautical and marine propulsion and hydro-electric power generation.

P A Brandner

A/Prof Paul Brandner leads a research group working in fluid dynamics, specifically cavitation, and manages the cavitation tunnel within the National Centre for Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics at the Australian Maritime College (now an institute of the University of Tasmania). His research interests include unsteady cavitating, multi-phase and turbulent flows, bubbly flows and supercavitation. As a collaborator with the AMC marine engines group, he has contributed to the development of experimental equipment and methods for the investigation of spray dynamics. In recent years, Paul has led the development of a new cavitation tunnel funded under the commonwealth Major National Research Facilities program. Paul has longstanding collaborations with the University of Tasmania and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation as part of Cooperative Research Centre and Major National Research Facilities programs.