AME Seminar

Speaker: Gustaaf Jacobs, San Diego State University

Talk Title: Where do flows separate and how does that affect the optimal control location?

Abstract: Flow separation can degrade performance in many engineering systems, through reduced lift, increased drag, and decreased efficiency. To alleviate the effects of flow separation on aerodynamic performance, active flow control has been considered since the inception of the field of aerodynamics. Open-loop flow control strategies based on various actuator technologies -” such as plasma actuators, fluidic oscillators, and synthetic jets -” have been shown to effectively alter separated flows, and in some cases to even yield complete reattachment. Most analyses start from the placement of an actuator at an intuitively optimal location near the separation point and/or near the Kutta condition. Optimal placement, however, requires a detailed understanding of non-linear flow separation and wake feedback that is often counterintuitive. In this talk, I will discuss recent developments in Lagrangian analysis of flow separation. This kinematic analysis promises the objective identification of separation lines as zero-mass flux "material"' lines whose footprint is analytically defined from first-principle. The separation profiles start with a subtle upwelling of Lagrangian fluid tracers upstream of the separation point. Using a data-driven technique (using DNS data) I will show that these upwelling locations may well point to optimal actuator locations that require minimal control effort.

Biography: Professor Jacobs received a M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in 1998, where after graduation, he was appointed to a Research Associate. He received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Following graduation in 2003, he was appointed Visiting Assistant Professor in the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University. He later combined this position with a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As of 2006 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at San Diego State University and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010 and Full Professor in 2014. In 2001 he received the Provosts Award for Graduate Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2002, he was awarded a University Fellowship at the University of Illinois. He received an AFOSR Young Investigator Award in 2009. He became an Associate Fellow of AIAA in 2013. The research interests of Professor Jacobs can broadly be defined in the area of computational multiphase, and multiscale flow physics modeling and simulation using high-order methods. Emphasis is on simulation and analysis of particle-laden flows and flow separation in complex geometries, to aid flow control relating to combustion optimization and drag reduction.

Host: AME Department

More Info: https://usc.zoom.us/j/93987337017?pwd=MWd2dXBSL1FaR1RPaHNscjJ1NW80UT09

Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/93987337017?pwd=MWd2dXBSL1FaR1RPaHNscjJ1NW80UT09

Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 252

WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/93987337017?pwd=MWd2dXBSL1FaR1RPaHNscjJ1NW80UT09

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Tessa Yao

Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/93987337017?pwd=MWd2dXBSL1FaR1RPaHNscjJ1NW80UT09