Research will be undertaken to understand and control instabilities in the performance of turbopumps. The investigation will be primarily experimental, with a limited complement of theoretical and numerical analysis. The source of the instabilities, whether system or component-related, and fluid characteristics, particularly cavitation, will be studied using laser anemometry and flow visualization techniques, among others. The researcher is a Presidential Young Investigator, and he is in his first year of his PYI grant.
