Jens Fransson
Professor in in experimental fluid mechanics
About Jens Franssons research:
The air flow around a vehicle, the movement of paper pulp through the roller in a paper mill, the flow of blood through an artery, the wind in a wind turbine and the water flowing around a professional swimmer are all examples of fluid physics phenomena. Each of these cases involves the flow of a fluid. The ability to control the flow and regulate whether it is laminar (well ordered) or turbulent (chaotic) is central to many of these examples.
Jens Fransson’s research mainly involves developing these control methods and gaining a better understanding of how laminar flow becomes turbulent flow. A few years ago, his group presented wind tunnel data which directly contradicted the conventional view that surface roughness results in turbulent flow. Their research showed that placing small, well designed “pucks” in the right place on a surface can hold back the conversion to turbulence, resulting in reduced resistance for example.
The results show that if the flow can be controlled so that it does not become turbulence, operating costs can be reduced in a number of areas within fields such as the automotive and process industries, where fluid mechanics plays a central role. Even more importantly, reduced resistance could also protect the environment from unnecessary emissions which can have a global climatic impact.