Darcy-like flow-through sand and gravel columns gives an insight into the uncertainty of parameters for porous-media flow.

SFB 1313 contributed to the summer academy of the programme “Talent im Land”

August 22, 2022 /

SFB 1313 researchers contributed to the 2022 "Talent im Land" summer academy in Überlingen near Lake Constance in the first week of August 2022.
[Picture: Ilja Mess]

The state of Baden-Württemberg supports talented high-school students with its “Talent im Land” (TiL) programme. Every year, the TiL programme of Baden-Württemberg organises a summer academy for senior high-school students, which takes place in Überlingen on the Campus of the school Salem, near Lake Constance. During the first week of August, more than 100 high-school students from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria participated in different interdisciplinary workshops, such as Medicine, Sociology, Economics etc., all of which, though in very different aspects, dealt with the overall topic of "Water".

SFB 1313 principal investigator Prof. Holger Class and Johannes Holder, former Fluidmechanics tutor at the Department of Hydromechanics and Modelling of Hydrosystems of the University of Stuttgart (LH2) and soon-to-be new doctoral student at the Institute of Construction Materials, contributed to the “Physics” workshop, organised by Prof. emeritus Gert Denninger of the University of Stuttgart. The two gave an insight into the civil engineering perspective on the topic of water, which includes ground water (porous media!) as one of the major drinking water resource, water distribution in pipes, water pumping, surface water flow, etc.

They illustrated their theoretical explanations with a number of experimental set-ups, which used to be shown in the Fluidmechanics classes at the University of Stuttgart for students of civil and environmental engineering and SimTech. Beyond that, a brief introduction was also given to the modelling of porous-media-related flow processes and illustrated with an example of water management in fuel cells.

Experiments, for example:
  • The hydraulic ram experiment demonstrates a centuries-old robust device to pump water solely by using the kinetic energy of flowing water.
  • Permeability determination with Darcy-like flow-through sand and gravel columns gives an insight into the uncertainty of parameters for porous-media flow.
  • Visualizing the steady-state Bernoulli equation in a pipe with friction losses and local losses helps understanding how different contributions to overall energy (kinetic, geodetic, pressure) interact with flow structures like contractions.
  • Cavitation in a pipe contraction with very high flow velocities illustrates the clearly audible phenomenon of vapor bubbles suddenly appearing and collapsing, which is material damaging.
Permeability experiment.
About „Talent im Land“

The “Talent im Land” scholarship programme supports talented students from Baden-Württemberg who have to overcome hurdles due to their social background on their way to the Abitur or the Fachhochschulreife. Financial support, an accompanying seminar programme and individual counselling help the young people to develop their own talents and to take their future into their own hands.

Talent im Land was initiated in 2003 by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung to promote fair educational opportunities for talented pupils. Both foundations support the jointly accepted scholarship holders until 2022. Since 2019, the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung and the Josef Wund Stiftung have been supporting the programme, the success of which is reflected in the personal development of over 750 alumnae and alumni.

This image shows Holger Class

Holger Class

apl. Prof. Dr. Ing.

Principal Investigator, Research Project C04, Central Project Z

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