Active areas of research are in nonlinear water-wave
dynamics, contact-line dynamics, drag-reduction technologies,
and coastal engineering. Energy dissipation, vorticity dynamics
in near-breaking and breaking waves are studied experimentally
using PIV and other non-intrusive
techniques. Drag-reduction technologies such as polymers are
investigated. Wind effects on these mechanically generated
waves are also
studied. Contact-line dynamics in oscillatory flows are studied
experimentally and numerically. Steep and breaking standing
waves and their nonlinear dynamics have been investigated
using Faraday waves. Long-wave, short-wave interactions are
investigated as well as the viscous
drift induced by short waves. Specifically parasitic capillary
waves generated by steep gravity waves are studied. High-speed
video in
conjunction with a laser sheet provide spatial information.
In the experimental investigations, temporal and spatial data
are used to yield both frequency and directional (wavenumber)
spectra. Within coastal engineering, present interests are
in the numerical modeling of shorelines and structures, and
the quantification of longshore and cross-shore sediment transport.
Specifically, these areas include such topics as the
relationship between directional wave spectra and its attendant
sediment transport; and, a description of the beach profile
for non-monotonic
cross-shores.
