Fluid Mechanics
Experimental, analytical, and numerical studies of fluid flow underlie many areas of technological innovation. Turbulent flows, flow control, stability and transition, and the coupling with electro-magnetic fields are areas of current interest.
This area includes experimental studies of two- and three-dimensional supersonic and subsonic flows of varying complexity; boundary layer studies, especially turbulent boundary layers at subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic speeds, over a wide range of Reynolds numbers; low-dimensional models and bifurcation analyses of turbulent and transition flows; active control of boundary layer turbulence and transition; new techniques in nonintrusive flow measurement; numerical techniques for solving the equations describing fluid flow, especially methods for calculating transonic flows over aircraft, reacting gasdynamics, and methods for calculating turbulent flows; fast iterative solutions, parallel algorithms, mesh generation, improved difference formulas; finite element and spectral methods;and aerodynamic shape optimization.
Faculty
- Garry Brown (Experimental fluid mechanics, turbulence, rotational flows, compressible flows)
- Pino Martin (Theory, numerical simulation, data analysis, and validation against experiments)
- Luigi Martinelli (Computational methods for engineering analysis and design, parallel computation,CFM, hydrodynamics)
- Clancy Rowley ~ Dynamics and control of fish-like swimming.
- Alexander Smits (Structure of turbulent boundary layers in subsonic and supersonic flow, viscous drag reduction)