• [2017-10-16]

  Prof. Charles R. Smith of Lehigh University visited LTCS

Prof. Charles R. Smith visited the State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems (LTCS)and delivered an insightful lecture on coherent structures in turbulent boundary layers on October 11, 2017. Dr. Smith is an Emeritus Professor and past Chairman of Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University.

Prof. Cunbiao Li hosted the lecture, and over 50 faculty and graduate students attended the lecture.

Audience of the lecture

After an introduction of different structural characteristics between turbulent boundary layers and laminar boundary layers, Prof. Smith described coherent structures of turbulent boundary layers. The coherent structure in the outer layer and near-wall region of boundary layers are inclined at 45 degrees and 15 degrees to the flow direction, respectively. Prof. Smith provided a detailed and intuitive explanation of the generation of burst, and high- and low-speed streaks in turbulent boundary layers using experimental visualization of hydrogen bubbles.

Prof. Charles R. Smith delivering the lecture

After the lecture, LTCS faculty and students had a stimulating discussion with Prof. Smith. Finally, Prof. Smith added more details of coherence structures and their application in engineering.