Advanced Technologies:

Projects involving advanced fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and solid mechanics with the objective of improving efficiency of industrial processes or developing knowledge with potential application to the power industry are included in this category.

Filtration Modeling: Mathematical modeling of filtration processes is being performed in order to understand the mechanism of filtration and improve it.

HVAC Duct Flow: Accurate pressure drop predictions are required to design HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) system. Incomplete or inaccurate pressure loss data can contribute to errors in duct system sizing, fan selection, and system balancing, leading to penalties in terms of initial and operating costs. A fully equipped laboratory for accurate measurements in HVAC systems is available.

Friction Stir Welding: Friction Stir Welding is a technique wherein a rotating pin tool is used to weld metallic sheets, unlike conventional welding which uses a high temperature arc flame to melt each material. This results in a better weld. Mathematical modeling of this process is being performed.

Advanced Combustor Design: Research is being conducted to enhance the performance of rocket engines by using various proposed ejector designs. Both CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and experimental work are being performed. The goal is to minimize costs to launch payloads into space.

Cooling of Electric Generators: Insufficient cooling of the stator and the rotor in electric generators places a limitation on the generation capacity. Research is being conducted to enhance the cooling of electric generators both by experimental investigation and computational studies.

Improve Performance of Rain Water Dust Separators: Swirl concentrators utilize a swirling motion of a fluid to remove suspended solids/oils/debris. Applications include capture of pollutants associated with run-off from large shopping center parking lots or construction sites, particularly during heavy rain events. Both experimental and CFD studies are being conducted to improve the performance of the swirl concentrator.

Optimal Erection Schedule for Concrete Bridge Girders: Prestressed concrete bridge girders undergo time-dependent deformation and stress during different construction and service stages. Studies are being conducted to instrument bridge girders during various stages of construction and service with the objective of developing an optimal erection schedule.

Computational Environmental Fluid Mechanics: Computational studies are done to estimate total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollution in rivers, estuaries and bays.