Andrea Maffioli (Fluid mechanics)
The study of turbulence in a fluid with a stable
density gradient is important for its applications in meteorology and
oceanography, which are instrumental to real-world problems such as the
dispersion of pollutants and volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Such turbulence,
known as stably stratified turbulence, is highly anisotropic, with the presence
of flat “pancake eddies”. We are interested in the formation process of the
pancake eddies, and results are presented from experiments and numerical
simulations which are compared against a simple model of pancake formation
through mixing. Finally, a number of recent theories are tested by comparing
their predictions to our simulations of decaying stratified turbulence.