AERO-U REU 2008
Highlights
NSF REU Site:
AERO-U: Aerospace Engineering Research Opportunities for Undergraduates
http://aero.tamu.edu/research/undergraduate/aero-propulsion-fluids/
The following are the faculty mentors who worked with REU students during the Summer 2008 program. The list provides the name, position, degree and research interests of each faculty mentor.
Dr. Rodney D. W. Bowersox, Professor. Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Gasdynamics, aerothermochemistry, high-speed and unsteady aerodynamics, aero-propulsion, turbulence modeling, numerical simulations, instrumentation development and wind tunnel design.
Dr. Sharath S. Girimaji, Professor. Ph.D., Cornell. Turbulent and hypersonic flow modeling. Partially-Averaged Navier-Stokes (PANS) model development. Lattice-Boltzmann methods. Turbulence.
Dr. Adonios Karpetis, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., Princeton. Experimental turbulent combustion and high-speed flow visualization, Microcombustion. Laser Diagnostics.
Dr. Jacques C. Richard, Senior Lecturer & Research Associate Professor. Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Plasma and gas dynamics computational modeling. Lattice-Boltzmann methods. Spectral element methods. Modeling plasma jets in magnetic fields. Electric propulsion (EP): ion thruster optics plasma flow, Magneto-hydro-dynamics (MHD).
Figure 1. Students after presenting their posters on Friday, August 1, 2008 at Texas A&M University. From keft: Terry McCullum, Chi Mai (USRG program), Christian Paul, Jorge Gonz‡lez PŽrez, Brad Horn, Andrew White, Rachel Vanelli, Justin Mason and Dr. Jacques C. Richard.
Figure 2. Eddie Tirado, who missed the picture at
the poster session, is shown attending Shalom JohnsonÕs and Forrest CarpenterÕs
talk at the the 44th
AIAA/ASME/ASEE/SAE Joint Propulsion Conference in Hartford, CT,
July-20-24, 2008 (AIAA.org).
Figure 3. Shalom Johnson (AERO-U REU Summer 2007, now a grad student at TAMU) presenting his paper with fellow TAMU grad student Forrest Carpenter at the 44th AIAA/ASME/ASEE/SAE Joint Propulsion Conference in Hartford, CT, July-20-24, 2008 (AIAA.org).
Figure 4. Dr. Richard presenting research conducted with AERO-U 2008 student Eddie Tirado and post-doc Kanthi Kannan at the 44th AIAA/ASME/ASEE/SAE Joint Propulsion Conference in Hartford, CT, July-20-24, 2008 (AIAA.org).
The following are some of the students that participated in the AERO-U REU during the Summer 2008 program. The personal information is not shown but they are from different institutions of various gender and ethnicity, major, GPA (>3.25), expected graduation dates, etc. Sample research titles and abstracts are shown below.
Chi Mai was in the TAMU Undergraduate Summer Research Grant (essap.tamu.edu/usrg/) program and helped integrate the non-TAMU students into TAMU and into Dr. BowersoxÕs research team at the facilities of the National Aerothermochemistry Lab.
Jorge J. Gonz‡lez PŽrez, Universidad Del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto-Rico, 00778. Mechanical Engineering major. Expected graduation Spring 2009. Research Title: ÒRaman Scattering on Laser Diagnostic for a MixtureÓ [Mentor: Dr. Adonios N. Karpetis].
Abstract: The main goal of this research was to prepare a Raman spectroscopy, using a laser with wavelength of 532 nm. Using this system allows us to measure and analyze certain characteristics of different mixtures, such as, the composition, the wavelength of the molecules, and the spectra among others. Raman rotational and vibrational scattering were used in order to obtain different types of measurements. After knowing and measuring the characteristics, we will be able to analyze combustion mixtures and study it after combustion process.
Figure 5. (a) Jorge J. Gonz‡lez PŽrez and his poster. (b) Diagram of lens calculation.
Justin Mason, Texas A&M University. Aerospace Engineering major. Expected graduation Spring 2010. Research Title: ÒIncorporating a Turbine-Compressor into the Siemens SGTS-8000H Gas TurbineÓ [Mentor: Dr. Adonios N. Karpetis].
Abstract: Recently the Siemen's SGT5-8000H gas turbine engine was developed making it the world's largest gas turbine. It is the most powerful and efficient gas turbine to date at 340MW and 39% efficiency. Knowing experimental data given from Siemens, reverse engineering was used to calculate specific properties of the turbine engine such as compressor and turbine efficiencies. Using basic thermodynamic assumptions such as the cold air-standard, constant pressure heat addition for the combustion, and constant isentropic efficiencies the gas turbine was able to be defined thermodynamically. Temperature versus entropy plots were then graphed to simulate the real Brayton cycle that occurs in the engine. The SGT5-8000H, like most gas-turbine engines, burns the fuel in the combustor which enables the high pressure and high temperature gas to move the turbine blades to provide shaft power. This paper proposes that combustion can occur between the turbine blades through a turbine burner and increase the overall net work output while sacrificing only a small percentage of efficiency. I will explore possible reheating techniques that could increase the power output of the SGT5-8000H.
Figure 6. (a) Justin Mason and his poster. (b) Gas turbine generator. (c) Temperature (T) vs. entropy (s) in a T-s diagram for a case with (red) and without (blue only) additional fuel. (d) Compressor and turbine adiabatic efficiencies vs. Temperature.
Terry McCullum, Louisiana Southern University. Mechanical Engineering major. Expected graduation Spring 2009. Research Title: ÒSpectral Decomposition of the Homogeneous Boltzmann EquationÓ [Mentor: Dr. Jacques C. Richard]. Abstract submitted to the 50th annual meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) of the American Physical Society in San Antonio, TX, November 23-25, 2008 (APS.org).
Abstract: The collision term in the Boltzmann equation has been discretized using spectral methods and coupled with existing LBM schemes in 2D. This paper presents the extension of this work to 3D which is a lot more computationally intensive.
Figure 7. Computation of kernel modes in 3D is partially completed for the probability distribution function.
Eddie Tirado, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto-Rico, 00778. Electrical Engineering major. Expected graduation. Spring 2009. Research Title: ÒHypersonic Shock Tunnel Development.Ó [Mentor: Dr. Jacques C. Richard]
Abstract: An analysis is done of a uniform electrostatic field on a turbulent plasma flow. Once an electric field we can generate some data for a determine amount of outputs files in a specific amount of time for flow visualization and animation. Through this research a plasma flow code has been successfully ported to Mac (UNIX) and Microsoft operating systems. Also by adding the Potential (Phi) and Density to the output file we can plot and compare the changes in the turbulence with the electric field and the small changes in density through time. We can also observe the alignment of turbulence to the electric field.
Figure 8. (a) Turbulence at time index 25. (b) Turbulence at time index 400.
Rachel R. Vannelli, Texas A&M University. Aerospace Engineering major. Expected graduation Fall 2008. Research Title: ÒVisual Modeling of Complex Three Dimensional FlowsÓ [Mentor: Dr. Sharath S. Girimaji].
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to obtain a system for visually modeling and analyzing complex flows in three dimensions. A Python program was written to convert data to Visualization Toolkit format. ParaView was used to visualize velocity fields within a flow at previously specified time increments. Streamlines and vorticity vector fields are determined, modeled and analyzed. Modeled vector fields and streamlines are viewed in an animated form to display effects of independent force fields (i.e., electric fields) over time within a fluid flow. These results provide a better understanding of the physical mechanisms at work in fluid flow.
Figure 9. Uniform electrostatic field effects on turbulence.
Figure 10. Rachel Vanelli and her poster.
To see animations of the following, correspondingly click: velocity, vorticity or vorticity zoom.
Andrew White, University of Texas, Arlington. Mechanical Engineering major. Expected graduation. Spring 2010. Research Title: ÒHypersonic Shock Tunnel Development.Ó [Mentor: Dr. Rodney D. Bowersox]
Abstract: Many worthwhile tasks were accomplished during the course of time spent working to expand upon the current capabilities of the National Aerothermochemistry Laboratory started last year. Already present were the basic pieces of a shock tube and Ludwig tubes. These were not functional when the team first came together at the start of this summer. From these the team eventually constructed and tested an operational shock tunnel with a Mach 2.2 nozzle in order to produce supersonic flow. From this instrumentation and equipment the hard work put into this summerÕs project rewarded the team with practical data proving that supersonic speeds were attained through use of the shock tunnel and supersonic nozzle. This paper will focus on the theory behind shock tunnels and the occurrence of supersonic flow encountered when a nozzle is attached.
Figure 11. (a) Qualitative Comparison of Real and Ideal Gas External Temperature Behavior. (b) Qualitative Comparison of Real Gas Properties through a Shock Wave. (c) Schematic of supersonic blow-down wind tunnel. (d) Theoretical vs. Experimental Shock Pressures.
Figure 12. Brad Horn (shown above with Andrew White) and Christian Paul (below) also worked on this project, as did Chi Mai through the USRG program.