Riding the Wave: The Value of Fluid Mechanics in Australasia
This report commissioned by the AFMS serves to increase awareness of the value and roles that fluid mechanics plays in Australasia, thereby arguing for the discipline and its support as a key pillar in the socio-economic advancement of the region.
Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference
The 24th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference will be held on 1-5 December 2024 in Canberra, Australia. The conference will bring together leading Australian and international scientists, engineers, educators and research students with common interests in fluid mechanics.
Fluid mechanics is the analysis of fluid flows. The air flowing in our lungs, the blood flowing in our veins, the lava erupting from a volcano, the air flowing over an aircraft wing, water flooding from a dam and the chemicals mixing in a pharmaceuticals plant are all examples of flowing fluids. Fluid mechanicians aim to understand fluid flows, predicting, adapting and harnessing flows for practical applications.
Members of the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society provide service to aerospace, automotive, biological, chemicals, defence, energy, environmental, food, maritime, medical, mining, pharmaceuticals, sports, and water industries. We teach biomedical, civil, chemical, environmental, and mechanical engineers, applied mathematicians, meteorologists and oceanographers, continuing a 50-year-old tradition of excellence in Australian and New Zealand fluid mechanics.
Our 350-plus members are taking on the greatest challenges of our time in water, food security, energy, health, transportation, weather prediction and climate change, under the overarching imperative of sustainability.
To advertise a position or scholarship, please contact the AFMS administrative officer at afms.admin@gmail.com.
PhD scholarship - Turbulent flow in canopies of complex geometries
School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland
Turbulent flows within canopies, whether over trees, vegetation, buildings, or solar panels, regulate the transport of carbon dioxide, humidity, and heat within microclimates, and thus play a pivotal role in urban and rural settings. Characterising momentum and scalar exchanges in canopies with different shapes and drag profiles is key to understanding flow dynamics in diverse environments and their implications for different applications. This project seeks to develop an understanding of the influence of complex canopy geometries on canopy flow dynamics, specifically focusing on how different geometric configurations affect flow structure and turbulence characteristics.
Multiple Positions in Aeronautics
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
Applications are invited for appointment as Tenure-Track Associate Professor/Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, to commence as soon as possible.
Click here for more information (Tenure-Track Associate Professor/Assistant Professor)
Click here for more information (Lecturer/Senior Lecturer)
Closing Date: Tuesday, 15th April 2025
PhD scholarship - Simulating offshore wind turbine wake dynamics and its dependence on atmospheric stability
The University of Queensland and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Research Academy
On- and offshore wind farms are getting larger, with trends toward larger turbines and more turbines per unit area now the norm. To enable the efficient use of turbines within a wind farm, it is important that the reduced efficiency of turbines located in the wake of neighbouring turbines is well understood and quantified. Unfortunately, these wake losses are complicated, with strong dependencies on atmospheric stability, surrounding terrain and topography, flow turbulence, and for offshore wind turbines, wave conditions. With the expectation of increased penetration of offshore wind energy into national electricity grids, the ability to effectively predict power from these wind farms is becoming increasingly important.
This project seeks to explore two main research challenges. Firstly, we seek to better understand the complex relationship between offshore wind turbine wakes, wave conditions and atmospheric stability. This is a particularly difficult modelling challenge as the processes that influence these wake dynamics span a wide range of spatial and temporal scales that are difficult to capture in a single simulation model. This has been deemed a "Grand Challenge" in wind energy research and will be explored here parametrically through both experimental and numerical methods. The second challenge relates to the methods used to study this process. Here we will use numerical simulations (Large Eddy Simulations or Hybrid Turbulence Models) to model the flow behind an offshore wind turbine under different atmospheric stability conditions and with different underlying wave conditions (IIT). We will then attempt to replicate a selection of these flow conditions in the wind-wave tunnel at UQ. We will then do the same in the UQ wind tunnel but make the simplification that the waves can be represented and replaced by a textured undulating surface. In all cases the flow characteristics of the turbine wake will be measured and compared.
PhD scholarship - Effect of the Acoustic Black Hole on the turbulence transition of a laminar boundary layer flow over a compliant panel
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
This scholarship is funded by UTS, DIN and DSTG. Each PhD stipend is $47,000 per annum tax-free for a full-time student with the possibility (to be confirmed) to have an additional $5k per year for travelling and attending national/international conferences. This would be in addition to the travel funds from the university/school. Only Australian citizens and permanent residents are eligible for this scholarship.
Enquiries and Applications should be sent to Dr Mahmoud Karimi (Mahmoud.Karimi@uts.edu.au)
Newsletter | Year |
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AFMS Newsletter 16 | 2023 |
AFMS Newsletter 15 | 2022 |
AFMS Newsletter 14 | 2021 |
AFMS Newsletter 13 | 2020 |
AFMS Newsletter 12 | 2019 |
AFMS Newsletter 11 | 2018 |
AFMS Newsletter 10 | 2017 |
AFMS Newsletter 9 | 2016 |
AFMS Newsletter 8 | 2015 |
AFMS Newsletter 7 | 2014 |
AFMS Newsletter 6 | 2013 |
AFMS Newsletter 5 | 2013 |
AFMS Newsletter 4 | 2012 |
AFMS Newsletter 3 | 2011 |
AFMS Newsletter 2 | 2010 |
AFMS Newsletter 1 | 2009 |