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Navier-Stokes equations. Scale and dimensional analysis. Description and modelling of turbulence. Dispersion in rivers. Dynamics of jets and plumes and applications to building ventilation.
Environmental systems have a wide range of interesting fluid mechanics phenomena associated with them. The importance of this branch of fluid mechanics is shown by it being given its own name – environmental fluid mechanics. Environmental fluid mechanics focuses on the interaction of humans with naturally occurring fluid bodies such as the atmosphere, the oceans, rivers, and lakes. Turbulence and buoyancy forces are often important things to consider when trying to understand or model these systems.Human civilisation is impacted by these fluid bodies in a number of critical ways•They provide critical resources such as water to drink, air to breathe, and energy for power generation.•We modify them through engineering interventions such as drawing water for irrigation and the construction of buildings and cities into the atmosphere.•We use them for disposal of our wastes such as municipal waste discharged into the ocean and smokestacks and chimneys discharging into the atmosphere.Environmental fluid dynamics is a very broad topic and this course can only provide an introduction to it. However by the completion of the course you should appreciate some of the fundamental characteristics of these natural flows – in particular turbulence, wave motion, and convection– and you should be able to undertake basic modelling of certain aspects of our interactions with them – in particular the modelling of turbulent mixing in the ocean, rivers, atmosphere, and within buildings.The course is split into three sections. The first section focuses on solving the Navier-Stokes equations for simple flows. Analysis of the Navier-Stokes equations will lead to the fundamental problem of turbulent flow. Turbulence and far-field mixing will be the second section of the course. Finally, we’ll consider the canonical fluid flows referred to as jets and plumes and near-field mixing.Combined, these sections will give you an understanding of the various mixing processes that happen in the environment and the ability to model mixing in a wide range of contexts from rivers and the atmosphere to air inside buildings.
At the conclusion of this course you should be able to:LO1 – NSE: Provide a description of the various terms within the Navier-Stokes equations and simplify the full set of equations to find a solution to a simple problem. (UC: EIE, WA: 1)LO2 – T&M: Describe important physical concepts of turbulent flow and turbulence modelling. Use this knowledge to model the dispersion of a contaminant by far field mixing. (UC: EIE, WA: 1, 2)LO3 – J&P: Explain the important differences between different free shear flows and the assumptions that are used to model them. (UC: EIE, WA: 1)LO4 – J&P: Model various turbulent free shear flows and utilise these models to design engineered mixing systems. (UC: EIE, WA: 1, 2)LO5: Understand the importance of different cultural values on natural water bodies. (UC: BCC, GA, WA: 6)
EMTH210, ENCI199, ENCN201, ENCN205, ENCN213, ENCN221, ENCN231, ENCN242, ENCN253, ENCN281, ENCN342
ENCN445
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Craig McConnochie
1. You cannot pass this course unless you achieve a mark of at least 40% in the final exam. A student who narrowly fails to achieve 40% in the exam, may still be eligible for a pass in the course if they have performed very well in the internal assessment items.2. All projects must be submitted by the due date. Late submissions will not be accepted. If a student is unable to complete and submit an assignment by the deadline due to personal circumstances beyond their control they should discuss this with the lecturer involved as soon as possible.3. All assignments must be done individually.4. Generative AI can be used for specific parts of each assignment. Read the assignment carefully to understand what uses are and are not allowed. Unapproved use of generative AI will be seen as academic dishonesty and will be referred to the department proctor.Special ConsiderationsAny student who has been impaired by significant exceptional and/or unforeseeable circumstances that have prevented them from completing any major assessment items, or that have impaired their performance such that the results are not representative of their true level of mastery of the course material, may apply for special consideration through the formal university process. The applicability and academic remedy/action associated with the special consideration process is listed for each assessment item below. Please refer to the University Special Consideration Regulations and Special Consideration Policies and Procedures documents for more information on the acceptable grounds for special consideration and the application process.Special Consideration for Assignments An extension will be granted for evidence-supported requests. Extensions will typically be for up to one week, but the duration will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Students seeking an extension must contact the course coordinator as soon as possible with evidence of their situation, and preferably before the due date. SSpecial Consideration for Final Exam The academic remedy for special consideration on the final exam will be an equivalent alternative assessment. These alternative assessments are only available to students who have approved special consideration applications at an appropriate severity level. If a student has applied for special consideration but the application has not yet been assessed when arrangements are being made for an alternative sitting, they may be permitted to sit the alternative assessment, but the mark will only be applied if the application is approved by the special consideration committee at an appropriate severity level. The mark on these alternative assessments will replace the original mark in the course grade calculation unless the student declines the offer or otherwise does not sit an alternative assessment, in which case the original mark will be used. This does mean that a mark may decrease due to the academic remedy. The alternative assessments for this course will be held on-campus in the week of 6 July 2025. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are available for these dates if you want to benefit from the academic remedy for your special consideration. All communication associated with the arrangements of these equivalent alternative assessments will be conducted using official UC email accounts. The offer to sit an alternative assessment will come with a date and time during the resit week. Students will have a clearly specified amount of time to respond to the offer. Failure to respond will be interpreted as a declined offer.
This course is self-contained and all necessary material will be provided through lectures and Learn.
Domestic fee $1,190.00
International fee $6,488.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Civil and Environmental Engineering .