Dr Ashraf Alsaffar
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Role:
Department staff:
Research staff:
- Qualifications:
- PhD, MEng, BEng, FHEA
- Position:
- Lecturer in Thermofluids
- Department:
- School of Engineering
- Telephone:
- +441179656261
- Email:
- Ashraf.Alsaffar@uwe.ac.uk
- Social media:
-
About me
Dr Ashraf Alsaffar is a Lecturer in Thermofluids at the School of Engineering, The University of the West of England, Bristol. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and holds a PhD in Mechanical and Materials Engineering from the National University of Malaysia (UKM). His research proposal on turbulent boundary layers was awarded the Seal of Excellence under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship of Horizon Europe, recognising it as a project of high scientific quality in the European Commission evaluation process.
Dr Ashraf is a mechanical engineer and research scientist specialising in fundamental and applied fluid mechanics. His research focuses on wall-bounded flows, high-Reynolds-number turbulence, pressure-gradient effects, and advanced flow control strategies. His expertise includes wind tunnel design and testing, passive aerodynamic optimisation, riblet-based drag reduction, and turbulent skin-friction control, with direct relevance to aerospace, maritime and energy systems.
With over a decade of combined academic and industry experience, he bridges turbulence physics with practical engineering applications. He has led the design, fabrication, and upgrade of specialised low-turbulence wind tunnel facilities, including the development of Malaysia’s first facility dedicated to boundary layer research, enabling detailed investigations of favourable and adverse pressure-gradient flows. His work on converging and diverging riblets has advanced understanding of turbulent structure modification and drag reduction mechanisms across aerofoils, marine hulls, and complex pressure-gradient environments. He holds two patents in hot-wire probe fabrication systems and riblet-based surface technologies for drag reduction.
His broader research interests include wall-bounded turbulence, flow control devices, riblet surfaces, wind turbine aerodynamics, and advanced aerodynamic measurement techniques. His long-term vision is to advance flow control devices for turbulent boundary layers to improve drag reduction, aerodynamic and hydrodynamic efficiency, and noise performance in next-generation aerospace, maritime and energy systems.
Dr Ashraf welcomes collaboration with academic and industrial partners on research projects and joint research grant applications. PhD applications are also welcome.
Dr Ashraf’s publications may also appear under the names Ashraf Amer Abbas, Ashraf A. Abbas, or A. A. Abbas in academic databases.
Area of expertise
Dr Ashraf’s expertise lies in high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layers and pressure-gradient flows, with particular emphasis on skin-friction drag reduction, riblet-based passive flow control, and turbulent coherent structure interactions. His work integrates experimental fluid mechanics, including advanced wind tunnel design and boundary layer measurement techniques such as hot-wire anemometry.
He has specialist expertise in wall-bounded flow control devices, and wind turbine blade aerodynamics, with applications in aerospace, maritime and energy systems.
Publications
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