Principal Investigator Dick Yue
Co-investigators Yuming Liu , Alexandra Techet
Project Website http://mit.edu/vfrl/www/
The Vortical Flow Research Lab (VFRL) is a research lab committed to the study of all manners of flows found in nature. This lab is a part of the Department of Ocean Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Studies include large-eddy simulations, fish hydromechanics and wave-wave and wave-body interactions.
Research Areas include:
(1) Nonlinear mechanics of wave-wave and wave-body interactions* Dynamics of steep and breaking waves* Extreme loads and large motions of ships and offshore platforms* Reconstruction, assimilation and prediction of nonlinear wavefield evolutions including effects of winds and currents* Hydrodynamics of rogue waves* Dynamics of wave-bottom interactions, resonant wave reflection/ refraction and wave localization* Nonlinear ship waves and ambient ship-wave interactions* Nonlinear forces and control of near-surface submarines* Water-entry and impact dynamics* Stability of standing waves
(2) Free-surface vortical and turbulent flows* Mechanics of the coupled air-sea boundary layers* Interaction of vortices with a free surface* Structures and mechanisms of free surface turbulence* Near-surface turbulent diffusion and transport of dissolved substances* Viscous and turbulent flows around ship hulls* Dynamics of spray, jets, and wave breaking* Surfactant hydrodynamics; resonant interaction of dilatational (surfactant) and transverse waves* DNS, LES and RANS modeling of steep breaking waves
(3) Unsteady propulsion and hydrodynamics of fish like swimming* Vorticity control* Fish propulsion* Effect of moving boundaries on turbulent and separated flow* Fluid mechanics of flapping foils
(4) Education in marine hydrodynamics* Custom and dynamic delivery of web-based materials* Web-based laboratory, simulations and teaching modules