Fluids Research and Innovation Laboratory
Our projects focus on unsteady fluid dynamics, including micro- and nano-texturing coatings for self-cleaning, fluid dynamics and heat transfer of energy-storage systems, inlet aerodynamics of supersonic aircraft and inlet particle separators of helicopters, and bio-inspired morphing wind turbines to reduce off-shore cost of energy.
The FRIL research team at the University of Virginia is directed by Eric Loth and includes several post-doctoral research scientists, graduate-level students/engineers, and undergraduates. Our projects focus on unsteady fluid dynamics, including micro- and nano-texturing coatings for self-cleaning, fluid dynamics and heat transfer of energy-storage systems, inlet aerodynamics of supersonic aircraft and inlet particle separators of helicopters, and bio-inspired morphing wind turbines to reduce off-shore cost of energy.
FRIL has several dedicated facilities to investigate fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, nano-micro texturing and energy systems. Our researchers also use supersonic wind tunnels, SEM and AFM and surface profilometry for micro/nano-scale imaging and analysis, and university-level computer clusters for 3-D unsteady large-scale flow simulations.
These Giant Wind Turbines, Inspired by Palm Trees, May Be the Future of Renewable Energy
