Tom Battista is joining the team, co-advised by Prof. Craig Woolsey, working on dynamics and control of submarines in waves (for example, at periscope depth or surfaced). Tom is also campaigning for the best research team member photo.
Author Archives: Leigh
John Gilbert awarded SMART scholarship
John Gilbert has received a prestigious SMART scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year to further his PhD research in computational fluids. It is anticipated/hoped that upon graduation he will work for the Hull Response and Protection branch of the Survivability, Structures, and Materials department of Carderock. Way to go John!
STEM-on-Wheels unveiled at FMMS
STEM-on-Wheels is an ongoing project to outfit a mobile STEM trailer with fun, hands-on, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities for schools, after-school clubs, scouts, and other community groups. The new trailer made its first public appearance at the 2014 ASNE Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium in Virginia Beach. To learn more about the program and upcoming schedule, please visit http://www.hampton.eng.vt.edu/stemonwheels.html.
Stephanie Sherman wins Virginia Space Grant Consortium Grant and Airport Cooperative Research Program Graduate Research Award
Update: Stephanie Sherman’s work on air traffic management has won her a Virginia Space Grant Consortium graduate student research grant and an Airport Cooperative Research Program Graduate Research Award! Stephanie is working to develop a computational model of air traffic based upon a smoothed particle hydrodynamics-esque definition of aircraft interactions (like particle interactions in SPH). Through this approach, her tool will be able to model stochastic aircraft characteristics in addition to deterministic characteristics. Fundamentally, she is trying to provide a tool which can help address two important and challenging problems:
- Model aircraft interactions in a decentralized control scheme versus the current centralized control approach (e.g. the bulk of aircraft interactions being governed by instructions from air traffic controllers).
- Model manned and unmanned aircraft interact with non-deterministic factors (e.g. pilot skill, aircraft handling, etc…)
Both of these topics are of interest for study as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).
To learn more about her excellent work, follow the tag for S_Sherman.
Post-doc position opening
Position Summary:
Perform basic research in the field of ship motions as well as experimental and computational fluid dynamics in the Dr. Leigh McCue-Weil’s research lab. Research expertise in either RANS or meshfree CFD approaches such as SPH with interest in both approaches and/or expertise in experimental fluids. Job responsibilities will require strong experience with computational and experimental components. Post-doc will work with Dr. McCue-Weil in preparing reports to the research sponsor, writing journal and conference papers, and presenting in conference and other open forums.
Required Qualifications:
Ph.D. in ocean/naval/aerospace/mechanical or related engineering discipline, as well as knowledge of, or experience in, CFD and experimental fluids.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with OpenFoam, SPHysics or other mesh-free Lagrangian CFD approach.
For a complete listing of position qualifications, and to apply, please visit http://www.jobs.vt.edu, and search for posting #SR0140111. Review of applications will begin on July 29, 2014.
Stephanie Sherman wins Virginia Space Grant Consortium Grant
Stephanie Sherman’s work on air traffic management has won her a Virginia Space Grant Consortium graduate student research grant! To learn more about her excellent work, follow the tag for S_Sherman.
John Gilbert lands NREIP Internship
Graduate student researcher John Gilbert has received a prestigious NREIP Summer Internship position with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock’s Combatant Craft Division. Go John!
A Framework for Quantifying the Effects of Uncertainty in a Decentralized National Airspace System
Sherman, S. and McCue, L., “A Framework for Quantifying the Effects of Uncertainty in a Decentralized National Airspace System,” 2014 AIAA Region I Student Conference, Cornell, April 2014.
The systematic variation of step configuration and displacement for a double step planing craft
Lee, Evan, Pavkov, Mark, and McCue, Leigh, “The systematic variation of step configuration and displacement for a double step planing craft,” Journal of Ship Production and Design, Volume 30, Number 2, May 2014.
Validation of a SPH-FEM Model for Seal Dynamics of Surface Effect Ships
Yang, Q., Jones, V., Kumar, P., and McCue, L., “Validation of a SPH-FEM Model for Seal Dynamics of Surface Effect Ships” Naval Engineers Journal, Volume 125, Number 4, December 2013.
SCraMP Comparison Data
Folks often inquire about the accuracy of using an iPhone’s sensors as a data acquisition system. John Zseleczky from the U.S. Naval Academy Hydromechanics Laboratory recently conducted a very nice comparative study resulting in the attached data and has given me the go-ahead to share this publicly. Thank you very much John Z. and the USNA!
Stephanie Sherman
Stephanie Sherman rounds out the aerospace side of our aerospace and ocean engineering team with her research toward using a particle-based approach toward air traffic simulation with a focus on stochastic uncertainties and comparing centralized versus decentralized control schemes.
Mapping a mission profile for the exploration of Europa’s ocean
Allen, D., Jones, M., Woolsey, C., Moore, W., and McCue, L., “Mapping a mission profile for the exploration of Europa’s ocean,” AIAA Space 2013 Conference and Exposition, San Diego, CA, September 2013.
Underwater Gas Expansion and Deflagration
The underwater combustion of a propane-air mixture in an acrylic cylinder is captured on the video linked here from multiple angles. This experiment, led by Van Jones with assistance from Kariann Vander Pol and John Gilbert, is designed to provide visual data and pressure time-histories for future CFD validation studies. We have submitted this to the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics gallery of fluid motion competition this year! More information, including an extended abstract and higher resolution version of the video can be found at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.3523.
SCraMP Release 3.13
I am often asked if SCraMP can be useful on big ships as well as the small craft, for which it is named. My answer is always a resounding yes! There is nothing in the code that would confine it to small craft, and indeed, I have tried to make it as customizable as possible to suit a range of needs. With that in mind, the latest SCraMP release, hitting the app store today (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scramp/id456343416), adds two new safety metrics, one to help identify possible parametric roll conditions and one to provide guidance as to whether or not conditions might be making passengers sensitive to motion sickness. As always, if you have suggestions for app improvements or feedback on SCraMP v3.13, I am eager to hear from SCraMPers.
SCraMP and iOS7
SCraMP users, a bug has been identified with the use of the safety metrics screen of SCraMP when running iOS7. I have submitted to Apple an update to solve the problem and hope to have the new iOS7 version of SCraMP released to you next week. Apologies for any inconvenience in the meantime.
Pankaj Kumar wins award
Just got this e-mail from former post-doc Pankaj Kumar: “I am happy to inform you that I have been awarded best group project in IHPC/ASTAR. This award is for developing Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) solver within the OpenFOAM framework. My job in this project was to develop finite difference- and finite volume- based LBM solvers in OpenFOAM.” Congratulations Pankaj!
David Hickerson, MS
David Hickerson successfully defended his MS in July of 2013. In his research he used computational fluid dynamics simulations to study a sailboat heaving-to in a storm. His complete thesis is available online here.
Evan Lee completes test effort at USNA
Evan Lee is busily advancing the state of the art on stepped planing hulls. Here he’s shown during his recent test effort at USNA.
On the use of mobile apps for improved maritime safety
McCue, L., “On the use of mobile apps for improved maritime safety,” Safety and energy efficiency in river transportation for a sustainable development of the peruvian Amazon region, First International Conference, 17th-19th July 2013, Iquitos, Peru.
SCraMP Press!
This has been a great few months for SCraMP coverage. SCraMP was mentioned in the National Fisherman Best of 2012 article in January and received equally flattering coverage in the March/April Ship and Boat International. Thank you to those authors helping get the word out, and to those friends who are letting me know when they’ve seen SCraMP articles appear (both of these were pleasant surprises for me)!
David Allen presents at Spring NIAC Symposium
Check out David Allen discussing Europa exploration online here.
David Allen
David Allen, co-advised by Prof. Craig Woolsey, is working toward a viable mission to explore Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter that many believe is our best bet for finding life within the solar system. For more on David’s work, click on the tag ‘Allen‘ on this site.
McCue receives Rosenblatt Young Naval Engineer Award from ASNE
A few weeks ago I had the tremendous honor of receiving this award. Below are my remarks and a wonderful picture of my advisor Armin Troesch who presented the award, ASNE president Ronald Kiss, and me (photo provided by ASNE–thanks Jared!).
Thank you. I am going to keep this short as my toddler in attendance will likely express out loud what many might be feeling regarding long acceptance remarks. Mostly I want to say a handful of thank you’s. I have been lucky to have really great advising, as an undergraduate from the late Pat Curtiss and as a graduate student from Armin Troesch. Thank you Armin for being such a wonderful advisor and setting my career on the right path. I am also fortunate to have fantastic colleagues at Virginia Tech, particularly Al Brown who has diligently kept me out of trouble, and my amazing students who make me look good. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those program officers who have supported my work: Pat Purtell, Kelly Cooper, Bob Brizzolara, Eduardo Misawa, and Jay Falker. Every one of them took a chance on me being able to broaden my early research in ways that would support the ONR, NSF, and NASA missions, and I appreciate their faith in me, and my team’s abilities. I want to thank all the good folks at Carderock who have let me spend two summers in Bethesda working with Bill Belknap, Judah Milgram, Brad Campbell, and others, and a sabbatical at CCD enabled by Tim Coats, Dave Pogorzelski, and my personal favorite CCD researcher, my husband Charlie Weil. And I want to thank ASNE. ASNE has provided me leadership opportunities from the start of my career; opportunities to directly support or even work side by side with Captains, Admirals, Program Officers, SESs, industry leaders, and full Professors. ASNE leadership and staff have worked hard to make opportunities for students and young professionals. At this ASNE Day we have seen an exciting student program, put together by a team of young professionals led by Justin Stepanchick, showcasing exceptional student research. Wednesday night, the first ever Student Opportunities Committee, with direct representation to ASNE Council, was elected. ASNE is a warm place for students and young professionals and that, above all else, is why I am so honored to be receiving this Rosenblatt award for young naval engineers from ASNE. Thank you.
EUROPA team visits JPL Europa team
What do Europa geeks do for spring break? Go to JPL of course! Shown here is the VT EUROPA team: Craig Woolsey, David Allen, Matt Jones, and me pictured outside the Space Flight Operations Facility with our gracious host, Ray Crum. It was a wonderful, educational, and far too short visit. I hope we will be teaming with JPL on this more down the road!
Congratulations to Pankaj Kumar
Former post-doc Pankaj wrote in to say that his family has “been blessed with a baby boy.” Congratulations Pankaj!
Checking in with alum Qing Yang
I recently checked in with alum, Dr. Qing Yang who defended his PhD degree in December 2011 in the field of SPH simulation of fluid-structure interaction problems. He is now working as a naval architect in Kvaerner Field Development, a Norwegian oil service company specialized in EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) of offshore platforms. His main job is to analyze the hydrodynamic load on the offshore platform and its mooring systems and the dynamic response of offshore platforms. He also notes he is now engaged: congratulations Qing!
Pankaj Kumar
Pankaj Kumar recently finished up a 2 year post-doc with us and is off working as a research scientist in Singapore! We miss him, but are proud to tout the ground-breaking research he did in merging meshfree and meshed CFD approaches. To read more, click on the ‘Kumar‘ tag on this site.
John Gilbert
I hypothesize John, an LSU alum, came to Virginia Tech for the football as much as the research. John is working on fluid-structure interaction problems using meshed and meshfree methods building off the work of team alumni Qing Yang and Pankaj Kumar. For more on John’s work, click on the tag ‘Gilbert‘ on this site.
Evan Lee
SMART Evan Lee comes to us via a SMART fellowship enabling him to pursue his PhD on stepped high speed craft while also working for NAVSEA’s Combatant Craft Division. For more on Evan’s work, click on the tag ‘Lee‘ on this site.
Van Jones
Van’s PhD research focuses on using particle based CFD to study a host of naval engineering problems with an emphasis on computational aspects to particle-based codes. He is the resident computer scientist on the research team. For more details on Van’s work, click on the tag ‘Jones‘ on this site.
Michele Cooper
Michele is a PhD student studying approaches to verification and validation of code. This work has her covering the range from experimental, to numerical, to analytical work. Her broad background also maker her the team’s defacto expert on everything from theology to health and nutrition. Posts highlighting Michele’s work can be found by searching on the tag ‘Cooper‘ on this site.
NIAC EUROPA Project Press
The NIAC Europa project I’m working on with Profs Craig Woolsey and Bill Moore, graduate student David Allen, and undergraduate Matt Jones, has gotten some exciting press, including appearing in Time’s Techland website! To learn more about the project, visit http://www.unmanned.vt.edu/europa. This mission architecture image is adapted from a NASA JPL image of Europa’s ice crust and ocean.
SCraMP Map
Where are SCraMP v3.9 users? All over the world! If you haven’t tried it yet, the Small Craft Motion Program (SCraMP) is free in the iOS app store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scramp/id456343416?mt=8
New Release: FVdrills
The first version of FVdrills, a fishing vessel drill app developed in partnership with the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, just hit the app store last week! Check it out and let me know what you think.
Free-surface Flow Interactions with Deformable Structures Using an SPH-FEM Model
Yang, Q., Jones, V., and McCue, L., “Free-surface Flow Interactions with Deformable Structures Using an SPH-FEM Model,” Ocean Engineering, Volume 55, December, 2012, pp. 136-147.
A comparative analysis of personal electronic devices as data acquisition systems
McCue, L., “A comparative analysis of personal electronic devices as data acquisition systems,” 2012 Launch and Recovery Symposium, Maryland, November, 2012.
Lauren Hanyok, MS
On November 13, 2012, Lauren Hanyok successfully defended her thesis “Methods for calculating motion induced interruptions as applied to a space capsule after splashdown.” How’s that for the intersection of aerospace and ocean engineering! Congratulations Lauren!
Coupled SPH-FVM simulation within the OpenFOAM framework
Kumar, P., Yang, Q., Jones, V., and McCue, L., “Coupled SPH-FVM simulation within the OpenFOAM framework,” IUTAM Symposium on Particle Methods in Fluid Mechanics, Lyngby, Denmark, October, 2012.
SCraMP User Guide
Here is the current version of the Small Craft Motion Program (SCraMP) user guide.
Effectiveness of chaotic system measures for the validation of ship dynamics simulations
Cooper, M.and McCue, L., “Effectiveness of chaotic system measures for the validation of ship dynamics simulations”, 11th International Conference on the Stability of Ships and Ocean Vehicles, Athens, Greece, September 2012.
Putting vessel motion research into the hands of operators
McCue, L., “Putting vessel motion research into the hands of operators,” 11th International Conference on the Stability of Ships and Ocean Vehicles, Athens, Greece, September 2012.
Statistics of extreme slam responses and implications for small craft design
McCue, L.S., “Statistics of extreme slam responses and implications for small craft design,” Journal of Ship Production and Design, August, 2012, pp. 112-127.
A look at the impact of filter selection on characterization of vertical acceleration peaks
McCue, L.S., Jacobson, D., Weil, C., and Zseleczky, J., “A look at the impact of filter selection on characterization of vertical acceleration peaks,” Chesapeake Powerboat Symposium, Annapolis, Maryland, June 2012.
ComFish Inspired Improvements
The ComFish expo was a great experience for me! I’ve implemented two changes that directly relate to comments I got at ComFish. First–you now have the option for audible alarms–you can chose to have my lovely voice nag you directly, or the sound of a pot being hit with a wood spoon. (Hey, it’s a free app, I’m making my own sound effects!) Second–I made this universal for iPads. Many folks commented that they wished they had a bigger screen for this. One option is to hook up your iPhone to a monitor using an Apple VGA adapter (this only works for iPhone 4S and iPad2 or newer devices), another option is to use an iPad. So, now it should look quite a bit prettier on an iPad then it did before.
Qing Yang, PhD
Congratulations Dr. Qing Yang who successfully defended his PhD thesis in December, 2011! You can peruse Qing’s thesis here: SPH Simulation of Fluid-Structure Interaction Problems with Application to Hovercraft. For more on Qing’s various publications, click on the tag ‘Yang‘ on this site.
SCraMP v3.7
SCraMP 3.7 is in the app store (free, as always). Based on user requests, v3.7 has a compass and heading information. Also included, for my data acquisition users, is a choice of coordinate systems. The API implementation by Apple is an earth fixed coordinate system (some of you may have noticed this if you were playing with the app at large angles), so now you have a choice of a body-fixed system (i.e., what roll/pitch/yaw usually mean to boat or airplane people) or the earth-fixed system. Last, but certainly not least, the app now stores your preferences. For example–enter your boat’s beam once and be done with it; no more having to enter that every time you re-launch the app and want to use the GM estimate! As always, I’m eager to hear your feedback: scramp@vesseldynamics.com
Fish Radio
Laine Welch, wonderful woman that she is, generously invited me to discuss SCraMP with her on Fish Radio! If you want to catch more of Laine’s Fish Radio, check out the archive hosted by the Marine Conservation Alliance.
Modal analysis of the ice-structure interaction problem
Venturella, M., Patil, M. and McCue, L., “Modal analysis of the ice-structure interaction problem,” Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Volume 133, Issue 4, 2011. Originally presented at the 27th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE 2008), Estoril, Portugal, June, 2008.
Investigation of skirt dynamics of air cushion vehicles under non-linear wave impact using a SPH-FEM model
Yang, Q., Jones, V., and McCue, L., “Investigation of skirt dynamics of air cushion vehicles under non-linear wave impact using a SPH-FEM model,” 11th International Conference on Fast Sea Transportation (FAST), Honolulu, HI, September, 2011.