沈炼教授1993年本科毕业于中国科学技术大学流体力学专业，2001年获得麻省理工学院海洋工程专业博士学位。目前，他是美国明尼苏达大学本杰明•梅休讲座副教授,指导二十多名博士生和博士后。圣安东尼瀑布水力研究所是明尼苏达大学的一个多学科流体力学研究所，包括教职工五十多人以及许多学生，沈教授担任该所的主管科研工作的副主任。沈教授的科研主要侧重于小尺度的海气相互作用，海洋表面波和内波，风和海浪相互作用，及海浪与水流相互作用。同时，他还活跃于海洋工程和海上风能的研究。他在美国参与了众多物理海洋方面的大型合作科研课题，并主持这些课题的计算部分。
Many upper ocean processes depend on the dynamics of surface waves. Existing simulation-based studies of upper ocean flows often use simplified models for wave effects, for example, the use of sea surface roughness in wind-wave interaction and the use of Stokes drift and vortex force in Langmuir circulation. With the recent advancement in numerical algorithms and the increase in computing power, it has become feasible to resolve the wave motions explicitly in some process studies, and it may be possible to have wave-resolved computation in some operational forecasts in the near future. In this talk, some of the research in my group using wave-resolved simulations will be presented. I will first introduce recent developments in our simulation capabilities in nonlinear wave field evolution, wind-wave coupling, and wave breaking. Then I will focus on the discussion of flow physics we have learned from mechanistic studies of wave-turbulence interaction. Finally, I will introduce our on-going study of Langmuir cells and Langmuir turbulence.
