Research Initiation Award: Direct Numerical Simulation for Shock/Turbulence Interaction with Applications to Supersonic Cavity Flows

Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Institute AL

Investigators

Abstract

Research Initiation Awards (RIAs) provide support for junior faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who are starting to build a research program, as well as for mid-career faculty who need to re-direct and re-build a research program. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the researcher's home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. Interest in supersonic cavity flow research is growing with the advancement of technology to design long range and sustained supersonic transport and business jets. Tuskegee University's HBCU-UP RIA will establish an advanced teaching-research infrastructure in a much needed area of teaching and research - computational modeling and simulation. The proposed research utilizes direct numerical simulation based on a numerical scheme of high accuracy and efficiency to investigate the shock/turbulent mixing layer interaction and various flow features of a supersonic cavity and has applicability to supersonic civil transport and military aircraft. Data obtained from the developed code will be utilized to perform aero-acoustic analysis, thereby, predicting flow oscillations and corresponding sound pressure levels with maximum accuracy. The proposed numerical model has the potential to considerably reduce the high costs associated with supersonic experimental testing. The research material produced will be directly integrated into new and existing courses and classes for undergraduate students from predominately underrepresented minority populations and for faculty development. In addition to developing the the principal investigator's research portfolio, the project contributes to a competitive, well-trained, diverse national workforce for high technology industries, national labs and academic institutions. The project involves collaborations with researchers at the Ohio State University, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Langley Research Center)and the Alabama Supercomputer Authority. The development of research capabilities in the area of computational modeling of fluid dynamics problems and high-performance computing assists Tuskegee University faculty in conducting leading-edge research and provides the opportunity to share these outcomes with the scientific community through publications. The institution is both a minority-serving and an Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) institution. Thus, the project expands the capability and capacity for research competitiveness in a specialized engineering field in this EPSCoR-designated jurisdiction.