Assistant Research Professor @UW examining problems in fluid dynamics and turbulence in support of the aerospace and energy sectors.
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ALT Here's the flume, with the turbine and laser setup. The computer shown here controls the operations (with a little help from the researchers).
ALT Water flows through the flume as the turbine blades spin. Meanwhile, a laser fires through a horizontal slot and creates a plane of light, reflecting off of specially designed tiny particles with a reflective coating flowing through the water to derive the speed of the water as it passes through the spinning blades. A mirror on the opposite side of the laser helps illuminate what would otherwise be blind spots created by the blades.
ALT Lasers fire! A special camera placed below the flume pointing upwards records the data so it may be analyzed later. Photo courtesy of Ari Athair.
ALT Time for some data analysis. Cool colors represent slower water speeds, while warm colors represent faster. You can see eddies develop in the wake. This sort of testing/analysis can help determine the optimal arrangement of turbines when organized in an array.
