Newswise — An assistant professor of mechanical engineering at North Dakota State University, Fargo, Yildirim Bora Suzen, Ph.D., has received two prestigious awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society, London, England. Suzen received the Specialist Silver Award, which is conferred for exceptional work that has led to significant advances in specialist disciplines in the aerospace industry. He also received the Ackroyd Stuart Prize from the Royal Aeronautical Society for the best paper published in the Propulsion subject group. The paper is titled "Comprehensive Validation of an Intermittency Transport Model for Transitional Low-Pressure Turbine Flows," published in Aeronautical Journal, earlier this year. Suzen's research was performed under cooperative agreement with NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Low-Pressure Turbine Flow Physics Program led by Dr. David Ashpis. A professor of mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky, Dr. George Huang, was also honored with the two awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Fluid dynamics studies fluids (liquids and gases) in motion and aerodynamics is the branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the flow of air and other gases. Aerodynamics primarily studies flow of air around objects such as airplanes and its effects on these objects such as lift and drag forces. Besides airplanes, other examples mainly affected by air flow and studied under aerodynamics include jet engines, helicopter rotors and wind turbines.
The fluids (liquids and gases) can flow in an orderly (laminar) manner in parallel layers with no disruption between layers. They can also move in a disorganized, chaotic (turbulent) manner when laminar flow is disturbed. For example, when smoke rises from a cigarette, the flow of smoke is initially smooth and orderly (laminar) and then becomes unstable and chaotic (turbulent) as it continues to rise. The process of transition from laminar to turbulent flow plays an important role in various engineering applications and is a major unsolved problem in fluid dynamics and aerodynamics, according to Suzen. "Accurately simulating and predicting transitional flows is key to designing jet engines that operate more efficiently and consume less fuel." Such research has implications for applications in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and high altitude-long endurance (HALE) reconnaissance aircrafts, as well as in commercial airliners, according to Suzen.
Under the Low-Pressure Turbine Flow Physics Program of NASA's Glenn Research Center, Dr. Suzen and Dr. Huang developed a computational model to accurately simulate the complex transitional flow fields in low-pressure turbines to predict losses under various operating conditions, which could lead to better-designed turbine blades. "The success of the model has been instrumental in developing more advanced transition models for turbomachinery applications and for external aerodynamic applications such as wind turbines, aircraft wing/body flowfields, and helicopter flowfields," said Suzen.
At NDSU, Dr. Suzen is currently conducting research on computational modeling of transitional flows and active/adaptive flow separation control. He received his B.S. degree in aeronautical engineering from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and was a research engineer at Turkish Aerospace Industries where he conducted research in subsonic and transonic aerodynamics and computational analysis of unmanned aircraft.
He holds master's and doctorate degrees in aerospace engineering from Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas. Prior to joining the faculty at NDSU in 2005, Suzen conducted research on NASA and industry-sponsored projects in the area of laminar-to-turbulent transition modeling and active flow control modeling at the University of Kentucky. He has authored more than 40 technical articles and reports and has presented his research work at more than 30 national, international conferences and lectures.
Suzen is affiliated with Sigma Gamma Tau " National Honor Society for Aerospace Engineers, American Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and serves on the AIAA Thermophysics Technical Committee.
About NDSUWith a reputation for excellence in teaching and multidisciplinary research, North Dakota State University, Fargo, links academics to real world opportunities. At the 55-acre NDSU Research & Technology Park on the NDSU campus, the faculty, staff and students work side-by-side with private sector researchers on cutting-edge projects. As a metropolitan land grant institution with more than 12,000 students, NDSU is listed in the top 100 of several National Science Foundation research expenditure rankings in the areas of physical sciences, engineering and chemistry. NDSU has been named one of the best places to work in 2006 for individuals pursuing postdoctoral positions, according to The Scientist magazine, which places NDSU in the top 35 research institutions in North America. http://www.ndsu.edu/research
About the Royal Aeronautical SocietyThe Royal Aeronautical Society, London, has been honoring achievement in the global aerospace industry since 1908 when Wilbur and Orville Wright received the Society's first two Gold Medals. The Society's awards program recognizes individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to aerospace. Founded in 1866, the Royal Aeronautical Society has played a pivotal role in the evolution of aerospace technology. The Society's Propulsion Group covers all aspects of design, manufacture, installation and operation of existing and new engine concepts.
For more information: Suzen, Y.B., Huang, P.G., "Comprehensive Validation of an Intermittency Transport Model for Transitional Low-Pressure Turbine Flows," The Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 109, No. 1093, pp. 101-118, March 2005.
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