We conduct experiments at both the Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory and at our new Ecohydraulics and Ecomorphodynamics Laboratory (The EEL).
Pre-2018 Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory
Post-2021 Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory
Ecohydraulics and Ecomorphodynamics Laboratory – The EEL
The EEL is located 15 miles north of the Urbana-Champaign Campus, in the town of Rantoul, IL.
The experimental facilities at the EEL include an 11m long, 0.8m channel width, 0.6m tall Racetrack flume, driven by a paddlewheel for fine control of the flow at speeds up to 1m/s.
The EEL also houses the Chicago River Flume, a distorted model of the Chicago River (250:1 Horizontal, 20:1 Vertical) representing the Main branch to North Pier Lock and Lake Michigan, North branch to Grand Ave., and South branch to Monroe St. A wind tunnel (top right of the figure below) is also operational and ready for work. An arrested front flume, with a moving belt to set the speed of the moving bed, is currently under construction.
The EEL has a dedicate Laser Lab, to safely conduct Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV), and Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) studies on three experimental facilities: an oscillatory tunnel, an Odell-Kovasznay type racetrack flume, and a Hyporheic flume.
The EEL also counts with a classroom, and is currently home of the Ben Chie Yen Library.
Besides research, we have conducted lectures, laboratory sessions, and class projects for CEE555, CEE498eh, and planning to incorporate activities for other courses, to make the EEL a second home for our Hydro community.
