MMAE 593 Seminar Series: Mitchell Lozier, “The Structure of High-Reynolds-Number Turbulent Boundary Layers Subject to Adverse Pressure Gradients”
The School of Engineering, Applied Science, and Health presents its MMAE 593 seminar series featuring guest speaker Mitchell Lozier, postdoctoral research fellow in fluid mechanics at the University of Melbourne in Australia, who will present “The Structure of High-Reynolds-Number Turbulent Boundary Layers Subject to Adverse Pressure Gradients.” This event is open to the public and will take place on Wednesday, November 11, from 12:45–1:45 p.m. in the Rettaliata Engineering Center auditorium (room 104).
Abstract
Skin-friction drag limits the performance and efficiency of a wide range of transportation and energy systems, including pipelines, airplanes and ships; however, an energy efficient pathway for drag reduction, leveraging spanwise wall oscillations, has recently been demonstrated experimentally at the University of Melbourne. We now aim to investigate the effectiveness of this drag reduction strategy under the complex flow conditions which are characteristic of real-life engineering applications, namely high Reynolds numbers and adverse pressure gradients. In this talk we will examine the structure of high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layers subject to adverse pressure gradients through a series of complementary hot-wire anemometry and particle image velocimetry experiments carried out in the large Melbourne wind tunnel. These experiments collectively reveal the specific underlying coherent structures of the canonical (i.e., smooth-wall and zero-pressure-gradient) boundary layer which are modified/energized by the imposition of adverse pressure gradients, and the implications for drag reduction are discussed.
Biography
Mitchell Lozier is a postdoctoral research fellow in fluid mechanics at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Lozier earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in the experimental investigation of wall-bounded flows using active flow control. His current research is focused on active drag reduction strategies for high-Reynolds-number and non-canonical wall-bounded flows. Supported by the 2026 University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant, he is also pursuing the development of novel, practically deployable, drag reduction technologies.
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