Research

Hello and welcome to the Research Projects area. I am actively looking for highly motivated students to join my research team. If you are interested please contact me.

Compressed Air Wind Tunnel	Ongoing work in the lab centers around the construction of a new experimental facility specifically designed to examine the regimes of highly complex and unsteady three-dimensional flow systems. The working fluid for this facility is compressed air at over 500 psi (30+ atmospheres). This allows the facility to achieve very high Reynolds number values that would typically require large velocities on small-scale models in conventional wind tunnels. The advantage of this method is that low free-stream velocities can be used, and subsequently the non-dimensional frequencies driving the dynamics can be reduced, facilitating a number of experimental measurement techniques not possible at high velocity. This facility has a wide range of applications for any system where a non-dimensional frequency (i.e. Strouhal number, tip speed ratio, or advance ratio) is important such as rotor-craft, wind turbines, propellers, and fans. The primary research interest centers on investigating the rotational augmentation effect that occurs during wind turbine operation which increases mechanical loading on the rotor in a way that is not predicted when using classical, two-dimensional aerodynamics.
Multirotor Aerodynamic and Acoustic Scaling	Multirotor aircraft are complex systems which can be difficult to represent accurately in either an analytical or experimental model. A range of new vehicle concepts which fall under the class of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) are currently in development, many of which incorporate multiple rotors in close proximity. Better informed design decisions can be made with more detailed knowledge of the flight behavior and expected noise emissions of these configurations. This project is utilizing the new Compressed Air Wind Tunnel to characterize the scaling behavior of both the performance and acoustics of these types of rotor systems; by changing the properties of the working fluid, full-scale operational Reynolds numbers can be achieved on a model a fraction of the size, vastly reducing the cost of experimentation over a full-scale study.
Characterizing Unsteady Flight Dynamics of UAVs	Takeoff and landing of unmanned systems (from small-scale drones to larger systems used to transport cargo) is a highly unsteady environment with many potential failure modes for a flight controller to handle. This is a major hurdle for upcoming unmanned vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) systems if human transport is to be included in the mission profile. The risk associated with these types of flights can be reduced if the aerodynamic profile is more fully understood, leading to more rapid development of urban air mobility. The lab is actively developing a project to address these needs using a combination of unique experimental approaches including powered model flight in a compressed air facility, and smaller-scale studies using a large water channel facility.
Separation and Stall in Rotating Systems	Some form of aerodynamic stall or flow separation from a lifting surface is present in a number of systems such as propeller blades, helicopter rotors, and fans. The mechanisms that lead to stall when operating in a rotating system are poorly understood and therefore difficult to model. Additional experimental work in this area is needed to increase understanding of this flow regime and improve future designs. Ongoing work in the lab aims to use a multifaceted experimental approach including: force/moment characterization with load-cells, hot-wire anemometry (HWA) of the turbulent wake, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) of the entire flow-field.
Sensor Development	We are developing a new three-dimensional stall sensor design which will allow for real-time tracking of stall events. The sensing element is related to a hot-film sensor where flow conditions above the sensor are interpreted from changes to the heat transfer from film to fluid. Our design contains an array of these elements which are bonded to a flexible substrate and will allow for application of the sensor package directly to the geometry of interest.