Harris Hydraulics Laboratory
Research in the Environmental Fluid Mechanics group is based primarily in the Harris Hydraulics Laboratory, which is located on the waterfront on the south side of the University of Washington campus. Harris Hydraulics was built in 1920. At that time, experiments in the lab received water and water pressure from what is now the pond surrounding Drumheller fountain in the center of campus. Harris is now used for fluid mechanics research by researchers from across campus, including Civil and Environmental Engineering, Applied Physics Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering and Oceanography.
Plume Basin
This 2.5m by 4.0m basin is designed to test the how lateral spreading modifies the mixing process and propagation speed of river plume. The basin is filled with saltwater and plume is generated by discharging freshwater from the source tank through an estuary-like opening. We use various instruments (such as, acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV), microscale conductivity/temperature probe, fluorescent dye with blacklight, and planar laser included fluorescence (PLIF)) for laboratory experiments in this plume basin.
Sediment/ wave flume
The experimental wave facility was built expressly for sedimentation transport experiments. It consists of a sealed channel with a 4.9 m long by 0.2 m wide by 1.2 m tall test section in which wave amplitude, period, bottom slope, and sediment supply can all be varied.
Rotating table
We have an annular rotating tank that is used for geophysical fluid dynamics experiments, such as the investigation of transport mechanisms within buoyant river plumes. The rotating tank is annular with 92cm and 22cm outer and inner radii and has a depth of 25cm deep. Experiments use an edge-lit light panel under the floor of the tank to illuminate the flow. In this configuration we use the Optical Thickness Method to understand the structure of the flow and transport within it. The tank can also be configured to make coupled velocity and density measurements with our PIV/PLIF system.
15 m wave tank
Teaching Lab
Wind tunnel/ jet tank
Other facilities
- Additional facilities and equipment are available at the UW Applied Physics Lab,