The Race Track Recirculating Flume

SkIO's flume facility was built to enable scientists to study the hydrodynamic processes of the turbulent boundary layer within the controlled environment of the laboratory. The facility was designed by Skidaway engineer Lee Knight and construction was completed during 1993. With this facility, experiments may be conducted on the interaction of the boundary shear layer with sediments or on the diffusion of tracers or migration of live animals to and from the sediment bed. In addition, it provides an a ccurate current meter calibration facility.

The race track flume is a large plexiglass oval-shaped aquarium consisting of two 4-meter long straightaways with curved ends joining them. The half-meter deep by one-meter wide flume is filled with 4000 gallons of fresh or salt water propelled by a chain drive paddle system working on the back straightaway. The paddle system was designed to propel the current without damaging fragile marine animals. A laser doppler velocimeter provides extremely accurate measurements of the turbulent velocity paramet ers near the bed. The flume is connected to the Institute's filtered seawater system and has its own filtration and UV sterilization capabilities. Thus the flume is uniquely designed to sustain live populations of marine animals under realistic current and turbulent conditions. The flume facility was built by Skidaway research support staff; matching funds from the National Science Foundation provided the laser doppler velocimeter system.