Aircraft is often subject to turbulence and gusts, which increase the aerodynamic forces and become a concern for the controllability of wings. Flow separation and formation of a "vortex" over the wing also occurs for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) with flapping wings, wind turbines and rotating blades. The main aim of this project is to achieve a complete understanding of the initiation and growth of the three-dimensionality of the separated flow. The second aim is to develop flow/vortex control methods by means of excitation or delay of the initiation of instabilities. The proposed project will address these aspects through a combined experimental (University of Bath) and computational (Imperial College London) approach using state of the art facilities and methods. These include water tunnel experiments by using force, deformation and flow measurements as well as numerical simulations. Expected outcomes include better understanding of the flow separation and vortices shed from the wings in unsteady flows and developing novel flow control methods which could be used for alleviation of extreme loads on wings. This could have main impact on the design of lighter aircraft, UAVs and wind turbines as well as help with improved safety.

Potential Impact:
Economy: The economic impact of this research will be in the Aerospace and Automotive sectors. New load alleviation methods and simulation capabilities developed in this project will increase the competitiveness of Airbus and McLaren Racing. There is also potential for the research to have impact on wind energy, unmanned air and underwater vehicles sectors.

Knowledge: We expect that aerodynamic aspects of the research will have impact on other academic researchers and engineers. The wider academic and industrial community will benefit from the knowledge and insight gained during the course of this project. In addition, our research will have an impact on the academics and industry, who focused on the development and application of spectral/hp element methods to a range of industrial problems.

Skills: There will be a positive impact on our own postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students. Their training and skills will position them to be highly desirable in industry or in pursuing an academic career. The project will also complement the activities of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Fluids at Imperial College. The PDRAs will be co-located with other PDRAs and PhD-level researchers engaged in closely related topics.

Society: Our outreach activities will have an impact on the general public and young people. A benefit of this engagement activity is to promote to young people the study of engineering and the physical sciences.