The main objective of this project is to study basic processes in fluid mechanics and spray formation and evolution using three instruments: 1) a Phase-Doppler Analyzer to measure droplet sizes and velocities, 2) a Particle-Image Velocimeter to measure droplet and flow field velocities, and 3) an Optical Patternator to map spatial distributions for droplets and particles. The instruments will be used to improve the understanding of basic processes in spray droplet group evolution and combustion (applications include aero- and industrial-gas turbine engines, as well as industrial furnaces such as those used to manufacture steel), transport phenomena in buoyancy driven nano-fluids (applications include high-flux heat transfer in computer cooling, currently being studied through an existing NSF MRPG), and secondary breakup and motion of non-Newtonian liquid drops (applications include food processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, gelled fuels, and paints and coatings, with the first being studied under an existing NSF GOALI).
The instrumentation will be used for a collaborative research and teaching effort between a non-PhD granting urban institution (Midwest Tier-4) that serves a diverse student body and a Tier-1 land-grant research institute. It will significantly enhance both research infrastructures, as well as markedly improving the educational facilities at the non-PhD granting institution by making use of instructional materials already developed at the Tier-1 school. It will also support the educational mission at the Tier-1 school. This project will also allow students to perform research from the university level through high-tech small business, large-scale manufacturing, and on to corporate research and development environments. Finally, this project will attract local professional engineers to the university laboratories by providing instrumentation that can be used for SBIR projects.
