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Surfing in the Water Channel
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AME Students Make Surf in Water Channel
On April 11, 2007, Viterbi School seniors Joel Linke and Kristin Swihart won first place in the most innovative category at the USC Annual Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly and Creative Work for their research on surface wave generation.
The Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly and Creative Work is a forum for undergraduates to present their significant research. As first place winners in the USC Stevens Institute sponsored "most innovative" category, mechanical engineering students Joel Linke and Kristin Swihart were awarded a $1,000 cash prize as well as a specialized USC Stevens Institute skateboard.
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Joel Linke and Kristin Swihart with their USC Stevens
skateboard
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The students presented their AME 441 senior project entitled "Wave
Generation for a Surfing Environment through Bottom Moving Bumps",
which focused on the comparison of experimental wave regimes produced
by symmetrical bottom bumps to theoretical predicted regime boundary
values.
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Kristin, Joel and Prof. Fincham display three Plexiglas
"bumps" used to produce waves in the water channel behind them.
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As part of their project they were required to design and
build bumps of varying sizes, which were then tested in varying water
depths and speeds. Each data set was then categorized based upon the
wave produced, these included subcritical swells, undulating hydraulic
jumps, turbulent hydraulic jumps, subcritical/supercritical ramps, or
supercritical swells. The project resulted in a characterization of
waves produced in specific flows, allowing the prediction of behavior
within those regimes and their applicability to generating artificial
surfing waves.
Their project is part of a research program in Surfing Wave Dynamics
coordinated by Research Associate Professor Adam Fincham in the
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department. This program aims to
develop technology that would enable the efficient generation of waves
of pro-surfing quality and variable difficulty. Along with Joel and
Kristin, mechanical engineering students Dane Kalinowski and Kyle
Wierema also focused their senior project (AME 441) on wave
generation, specifically analyzing the swells produced by moving side
bumps. All four
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From the opposite side of the water channel, Joel and Kristin
examine a topographically generated swell produced by flow over
one of their Plexiglas bumps.
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students continued their research the following
semester by participating in directed research (AME 490) under
Professor Fincham.
Most of the experiments were performed in the 25 ft long test-section
of the large recirculating water channel located in the Rapp
Engineering Research Building. As part of their research, students
studied research articles from both the scientific and surfing
literatures, utilized high-powered lasers and high-speed cameras to
measure water speed and wave shape/angles, experimentally tested a
variety of models utilizing different wave generating devices, and
designed and constructed many specific bump geometries and beach
topography ramps.
—KS & AF
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