PhD Studentship: Single-turbine scale quantification of wake turbulence
https://auracdt.hull.ac.uk/research-projects/single-turbine-scale-quantification-
of-wake-turbulence/
Project Description:
This PhD scholarship is offered by the EPSRC CDT in Offshore Wind Energy
Sustainability and Resilience; a partnership between the Universities of Durham,
Hull, Loughborough and Sheffield. The successful applicant will undertake six-
months of training with the rest of the CDT cohort at the University of Hull
before continuing their PhD research at Loughborough University. The project is
part of a PhD Research Cluster on Predicting Offshore Wind wake interactions for
Energy and the enviRonment (POWER).
Individual wind turbines produce turbulent wakes that have implications for
maximum power generation from downwind turbines, increased fatigue loads and
associated maintenance costs (Porté-Agel et al., 2020) . There are also associated
environmental issues such as noise generation, and the introduction of large-scale
flow structures to the atmospheric flow field. There have been a number of studies
of these phenomena and Howard et al. (2015) and Kadum et al. (2019) have
undertaken detailed studies of aspects of these dynamics. At the heart of this
project is an attempt to develop deeper understanding of these phenomena in terms
of the flow physics and to provide practical modelling methods that correctly
represent these physics.
Of particular interest is the nature of the non-local energy transfers identified
in the references cited above. Hence, this project will consider the non-
equilibrium energy scaling for near-field wakes and how these effects can be
captured in subgrid-scale models. Furthermore, we are interested in understanding
how these non-local energy transfers relate to the behaviour of the flow’s
pressure field, which provides another dimension to model development (Keylock,
2018).
Methodology:
The project will have three key stages to it:
(a) direct numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible
flow with a suitable forcing included to represent the turbines;
(b) analysis of the large datasets that result, extracting and summarising the
physics from the stored quantities;
(c) formulation of large-eddy simulation parameterisations based on the outcomes
of (a) and (b). A study making use of some of our concepts in this regard is that
by Yu et al. (2021).
An aspect of the project will involve undertaking comparative numerical
experiments with control for helicity/helicoidal wake generation (see Li et al.,
2006). An exciting potential dimension to this project is to link the numerical
results to field experiments conducted at the University of Minnesota.
Training and development
You will benefit from a taught programme, giving you a broad understanding of the
breadth and depth of current and emerging offshore wind sector needs. This begins
with an intensive six-month programme at the University of Hull for the new
student intake, drawing on the expertise and facilities of all four academic
partners. It is supplemented by Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which
is embedded throughout your 4-year research scholarship.
Entry requirements
If you have received a First-class Honours degree, or a 2:1 Honours degree and a
Masters, or a Distinction at Masters level with any undergraduate degree (or the
international equivalents) in engineering, mathematics and statistics or physics,
we would like to hear from you. If you have any queries about this project, please
contact Prof Chris Keylock, c.j.keylock@lboro.ac.uk
Funding notes
The CDT is funded by the EPSRC, allowing us to provide scholarships that cover
fees plus a stipend set at the UKRI nationally agreed rates. These have been set
by UKRI as £20,780 per annum at 2025/26 rates, and will increase in line with the
EPSRC guidelines for the subsequent years (subject to progress).
Eligibility
Our funded Doctoral Scholarships are available to UK Students. The advertised CDT
scholarships in this current recruitment round are available to Home (UK) Students
only as the CDT has reached the annual cap, set by the funding council (UKRI
EPSRC), on international student recruitment for the 2025 intake. To be considered
a Home student, and therefore eligible for a full award, a student must have no
restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident
in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the scholarship (with some
further constraint regarding residence for education).
Guaranteed Interview Scheme
The CDT is committed to generating a diverse and inclusive training programme and
is looking to attract applicants from all backgrounds. We offer a Guaranteed
Interview Scheme for home fee status candidates who identify as Black or Black
mixed or Asian or Asian mixed if they meet the programme entry requirements. This
positive action is to support recruitment of these under-represented ethnic groups
to our programme and is an opt in process.
How to apply
Recruitment is open until Friday 9 May for CDT Scholarships beginning study in
September 2025. Applications are made via the Loughborough University admissions
system. If you have not applied to Loughborough University before, you will need
to set up an account to enable you to track the progress of your application and
upload supporting documents.
Follow this link to apply for CDT projects at Loughborough University:
https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/research-applications/
Under programme name, select ‘Business School’. Both Full-time and Part-time modes
of study are available. Please quote the advertised reference number in your
application: Aura25-CK
With your application, you need to upload copies of the following supporting
evidence:
Complete transcripts (and final degree certificate(s) where possible). If your
qualification documents are not in English, you will need to supply copies of your
original language documents as well as their official translation into English.
Your Curriculum Vitae (CV).
A completed Supplementary Application Form (upload as part of your supporting
evidence documentation).
Please download the Supplementary Application Form here.
https://auracdt.hull.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CDT-Supplementary-
Application-Form-2025.docx
Ensure you complete all sections of the Supplementary Application Form in font and
size Calibri 11pt, specify the research project you are applying for.
When you have completed the form, please save it as a pdf format and labelled as
follows:
Last name_first name PhD application form
Upload the form as part of your application documents through the Loughborough
University student application portal upload as part of your supporting evidence
documentation. Please do not send your form directly to the Offshore Wind CDT.
Interviews will be held online with an interview panel comprising of project
supervisory team members from the host university where the project is based.
Where the project involves external supervisors from university partners or
industry sponsors then representatives from these partners may form part of the
interview panel and your supplementary application form will be shared with them
(with the guaranteed interview scheme section removed). Interviews will take place
during early and mid-June.
References:
Howard, K.B. et al. 2015. On the statistics of wind turbine wake meandering: An
experimental investigation, Physics of Fluids 27, 075103 doi: 10.1063/1.4923334
Kadum, H. et al. 2019. Wind turbine wake intermittency dependence on turbulence
intensity and pitch motion, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 11,
053302, doi: 10.1063/1.5097829
Keylock, C.J. 2018. The Schur decomposition of the velocity gradient tensor for
turbulent flows, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 848, 876-904.
Li, Y., Meneveau, C., Chen, S., Eyink, G.L. 2006. Subgrid-scale modeling of
helicity and energy dissipation in helical turbulence, Physical Review E 74, 2.
026310, 10.1103/PhysRevE.74.026310.
Porté-Agel, F., Bastankhah, M. & Shamsoddin, S. 2020. Wind-Turbine and Wind-Farm
Flows: A Review. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 174, 1–59.
Yu, J.-L., Zhao, Z., Lu, X. 2021. 2021. Non-normal effect of the velocity gradient
tensor and the relevant subgrid-scale model in compressible turbulent boundary-
layer, Physics of Fluids 33, 2, 025103. 10.1063/5.0038607
|
