Welcome to the Flow Physics lab (FPL) at Mechanical Engineering IISc!
Broad theme
The research carried out in the lab covers a range of fluid mechanical phenomena with the common theme being a detailed approach to understanding their flow physics. The research being pursued may be broadly divided into the areas of (1) fluid structure-interactions, (2) drag reduction using bubbles, and (3) some phenomena in high-speed flows including turbomachinery. A broad overview of work being undertaken in these different areas is given in the Research details page.
Approach
The work is primarily experimental, and a number of these studies have necessitated the development of special Facilities or experimental set-ups that range from a turbulent channel (water) flow for drag reduction studies using injected bubbles, to a transonic cascade facility for understanding the influence of unsteady shocks on the flutter characteristics of compressor blades. Laser based instrumentation and classical techniques are used to help understand these flow phenomena.
