2010 Tutorial School on Fluid Dynamics: Topics in Turbulence

Turbulence Control & Applications

Mohamed Gad-el-Hak, Virginia Commonwealth University

Why is turbulence so difficult to understand?
Why is turbulence so difficult to control?
Five eras of flow control.
Emerging technologies: MEMS; soft computing; dynamical systems theory and chaos control.
Wall control; freestream control; and in-between control.
Passive versus active control.
Predetermined versus reactive control.
Vorticity flux at wall and its role in reactive flow control.
Sensors/actuators needed for reactive flow control on a commercial aircraft: length and frequency scales; energy considerations.
Sensors/actuators needed for reactive flow control on a nuclear submarine.