Prabuddhika Illukkumbura
Contact information
Location: Building 290, Level 3, Desk 3.016
Thesis title
Investigating the influence of dynamic roughness on wall-bounded turbulence
Research overview
Surface roughness is often unavoidable in engineering systems with wall-bounded turbulent flows, resulting in a drag penalty and inefficient operation. Thus, there is significant value in predicting this drag penalty. Furthermore, some rough surfaces feature compliant and flow-reactive elements, such as soft biofouling on ship hulls, the effects of which on turbulent flows are not well understood. My research investigates the effects of dynamic roughness on turbulent flow and its influence on drag. For this, I conduct wind- and water- tunnel experiments (HWA, PIV) with a tunable rough surface that spans the dynamic range of the turbulent boundary-layer flows.
Supervisors
Dr Aditya Ramani
Qualifications
B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (2023)