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.
Category Archives: Research Team
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Wan Wu, PhD
Congratulations to Wan Wu on successfully defending her PhD! Read it here: Analytical and Numerical Methods Applied to Nonlinear Vessel Dynamics and Code Verification for Chaotic Systems. For more on Wan’s work, click on the tag ‘Wu‘ on this site.
Rob Story, MS
W. Robert Story, MS thesis “Application of Lyapunov Exponents to Strange Attractors and Intact & Damaged Ship Stability,” successfully defended April 29, 2009. Recipient of the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools’ ETD Master’s Thesis Award in the “Innovative Application of Technology to Scholarship in a Master’s Thesis” category. For more on Rob’s work, click on the tag ‘Story‘ on this site.
David Grant, MS
David Grant, MS thesis “Full Scale Investigation of Bilge Keel Effectiveness at Forward Speed,” successfully defended April 28, 2008. For more on David’s work, click on the tag ‘Grant‘ on this site.
Michael Venturella, MS
Lt. Michael Venturella, MS thesis “Modal Analysis of the Ice-Structure Interaction Problem,” successfully defended April 15, 2008 (co-advised with Mayuresh Patil). For more on Michael’s work, click on the tag ‘Venturella‘ on this site.
Brook Sherman, MS
Lt. Brook Sherman, MS thesis “The Examination and Evaluation of Dynamic Ship Quiescence Prediction and Detection Methods for Application in the Ship-Helicopter Dynamic Interface,” successfully defended April 16, 2007. For more on Brook’s work, click on the tag ‘Sherman‘ on this site.