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I enjoy making science content centered around Fluid Mechanics on YouTube through my channel 2BrokeScientists. 

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NIFTI

The PhD research undertaken is funded by LaVision GmbH as a part of the Clean Sky 2 project titled “Non-Intrusive Flow distortion measurements within a Turbofan Intake” (NIFTI). The project will work towards facilitating the development and implementation of new methodology for testing of high bypass ratio turbofan engines employing non-intrusive measurement technique like Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV).   

The recent developments in propulsion system for aircrafts has moved towards high bypass ratios and larger fan diameters where a short and slim intake design is necessary to compensate for the additional aerodynamic drag and weight penalties of the increased diameter (Smith 2013). The short intakes cause high levels of unsteady total pressure and velocity distortions especially under crosswind or angle of attack operations during take-off (Guimaraes et al 2019). Such distortions are expected to adversely affect the engine’s performance, operability, structural integrity, and safety margin with potentially catastrophic consequences for the entire propulsion system. With current practices of aero-engine testing and safety certification relying primarily on intrusive methods (Guimaraes et al 2019), it is imperative that a non-intrusive technique like PIV is applied. This is even more critical as the industry is moving towards an era of novel, closely integrated architectures whereby the various sub-systems (i.e. the engine, intake, nacelle, pylon and fuselage) are developed as an overall system. Consequently, the necessity for richer data to aid the understanding of flow distortions that lead to engine stall becomes critical. To aid and facilitate the development of new methodology, a project under the EU Clean Sky 2 initiative called Non-Intrusive Flow distortion measurements within a Turbofan Intake (NIFTI) which includes many partners will design, and execute the experiments. 

Flow Control

A clear contributor to fuel consumption is the aerodynamic drag that aircrafts experience. At cruise velocities, the skin-friction drag makes up roughly 50% of the airplane’s total drag (Roggenkamp et al 2015). The drag experienced by the aircraft can be reduced by either designing wings that promote laminar flow (Joslin 1998) or try and reduce the turbulent skin-friction drag (Gad-el-Hak 1996).

The PhD work will focus on turbulent skin-friction reduction. Of the many techniques developed for turbulent skin-friction reduction, spanwise wall oscillations has received much attention, given the large potential to achieve a significant skin-friction reduction (up to 45%, Quadrio and Ricco 2004). The complete understanding of the physical mechanism of drag reduction is yet to be obtained. The lack of a consensus in the reduction mechanism stems from a more fundamental question pertaining to the near wall mechanism of wall bounded turbulent flows. Further analysis of spanwise wall oscillation possesses the potential to understand the mechanism further and push the boundaries of literature.

The PhD research is planned to employ active techniques like spanwise wall oscillations (mechanical actuation), plasma actuators and move towards answering the question “Are passive and active techniques for turbulent skin-friction drag reduction feasible or will their applicability be limited to a laboratory environment?”. 

Introduction

The area of my PhD research focuses on utilizing Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) for aerospace applications. I am currently working on two research topics which are

• Non-Intrusive Flow distortion measurements within a Turbofan Intake (NIFTI)
• Active flow control for reducing turbulent skin-friction drag.

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