Unmanned aerial-underwater vehicles (UAUVs) provide the potential for working on missions in complex multidomain environments. To achieve amphibian mobility, current UAUV designs rely on additional mechanical components such as multiple layers of propeller blades, water ballast, buoys or wings. This paper presents a miniature UAUV which has a simple mechanical design that resembles a traditional quadcopter. The paper discusses the dynamic modelling, state estimation and control strategy for this UAUV, as well as a detailed characterization of the quadcopter blades operating in the air and water regimes. A strategy for the UAUV to breach calm water surface is then proposed and experimentally tested. The results demonstrate that the UAUV can successfully breach the still water surface, but also show tracking error and breaching delay that are not fully characterized by the model. This suggests the need to carry out further analysis on the dynamics of the UAUV both underwater and in the transition regime.

This paper presents experimental investigation of upstream roughness and Reynolds number effects on the recirculation region over a smooth forward facing step. The upstream rough wall was produced from 1.5 mm sand grains and the Reynolds number based on step height, Re h , was varied from 2040 to 9130 for both the upstream smooth and rough walls. For the smooth wall, the reattachment length increased monotonically with Re h to an asymptotic value of 2.2 step heights for Re h ≥ 6380. Upstream roughness reduced the reattachment length by 44% because of larger momentum deficit and higher turbulence level in the rough wall boundary layer. The mean velocities and Reynolds stresses were also reduced by roughness. The Reynolds shear stress and production of turbulent kinetic energy showed high negative values at the leading edge of the step indicating counter-gradient diffusion. The implications of these results for standard eddy viscosity models are discussed.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has heightened the interest in particle-laden turbulent jets generated by breathing, talking, coughing and sneezing, and how these can contribute to disease transmission. We present quantitative measurement methods for such flows, while exploring and offering improvements for common shortcomings. We generate jets consisting of either liquid droplets or solid particles in an isothermal, quiescent and electrically isopotential experimental chamber that was constructed to control the effects of ambient forcing on jet behavior. For liquid droplets, we find promise in surface deposition analysis based on fluorescent tracer use. For particles, we explore the performance of commercially available adhesive sampling strips and develop conductive grounded carbon tape based sampling strips. We explore ways in which the smallest of thermal gradients or electrostatic charge issues can affect particle dispersion, and suggest practical methods to address these issues. The developed methods are applied to study the simultaneous deposition of % 25, 50 and 200 lm solid particles from a particle laden turbulent jet with a mean velocity of 33.2 m/s. The deposition location as a function of particle size was compared to results from a simple numerical RANS model, and illustrates ways in which imprecise initial or boundary conditions can lead to a notable deviation from experimental results. The differences in deposition pattern seen in experimental and numerical results despite a carefully controlled environment and characterized particle ejection indicate the need for a more stringent numerical model validation, especially when studying fate and transport of mid-range (neither purely aerosol or ballistic) sized particles.

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This paper presents an experimental investigation of Reynolds number effects on the characteristics of separated and reattached flow over a smooth forward facing step. Particle image velocimetry technique was used to conduct detailed velocity measurement for a wide range of Reynolds numbers based on the step height and freestream velocity, 2040≤Reh≤8750. For each test case, the aspect ratio, AR = 21, ratio of boundary layer to step height, δ/h = 2.6 ± 0.2 and freestream turbulence level of 4% were kept constant. The results showed that the reattachment length increased monotonically with increasing Reynolds number for Reh < 6000, beyond which the reattachment length was independent of Reynolds number. In the recirculation region on top of the step, the Reynolds normal stresses were independent of Reynolds number but a higher Reynolds number increased the Reynolds shear stress in the region adjacent to the top of the step.