Auburn University

The Auburn University Department of Mechanical Engineering, established in 1885, has 26 full-time faculty with an enrollment of 500 undergraduates and 120 graduate students. Externally funded research projects have annually averaged in excess of 2 million dollars per year, with support from DOD, DOE, NSF, NASA, and a variety of industrial partners. Facilities pertinent to Advanced Gas Turbine Systems Research are listed below.

The Turbomachinery Laboratory consists of a dedicated facility for experimental studies. Completed studies include one associated with the prestigious, first-of-its-kind 110 MW Compressed Air Energy Storage gas turbine facility at McIntosh, Alabama . An experimental study of rim sealing experiments was initiated to confirm the adequacy of the current prototype seal design for the low pressure turbo-expander used in this plant. Current research activity focuses on development of improved cooling methods for turbomachinery components to ensure reliable operation at the elevated temperatures anticipated in advanced gas turbine cycles.

Facilities in the laboratory include hot-wire anemometry, laser-sheet flow visualization, 3-D flow measurement, turbine flowmeters, pressure sensors, data acquisition equipment, large blowers, and an elaborate turbomachinery simulation rig.

The Rotordynamics Research Laboratory is dedicated to the study of vibration and control of rotating machinery. Modern equipment is available for studying shaft, disk and blade vibration phenomena, including a multiple channel signal analyzer and several PC based systems. Dynamic analysis codes, both commercial products and several written in-house, are used to simulated rotor systems and provide insight into experimentally observed behaviors.

Current research is concerned specifically with two areas. The first is active magnetic bearings (AMB). Several bearings have been constructed in-house and are used to test control algorithms and study the dynamic behavior of magnetically supported rotor systems. Of particular interest is the investigation of concepts to reduce the complexity of magnetic bearing systems, and to improve performance. The second area of research is the vibration control of rotorcraft. A small-scale test rig has been constructed and will be used in conjunction with simulation models to develop vibration control strategies for advanced rotorcraft designs, such as the V-22 Osprey. These research efforts have been funded through University support and by external agencies, including NASA (Langley, Lewis, and Marshall), AFOSR, and NSF.

The Combustion Laboratory The emissions of combustion exhaust products into the atmosphere has immediate consequences on the environmental quality of our nation. At Auburn , a theoretical and experimental research program has been developed which is investigating the important topic of particle formation and dynamics in flames. Although the emission of combustion-generated particles into the atmosphere has, as previously mentioned, negative environmental consequences, the presence of particles in flames is actually beneficial to the combustion process. Particles are effective radiators of heat, and thus can contribute significantly to the transfer of thermal energy from hot combustion gases to heat exchanger surfaces. The research at Auburn is focused on two related aspects with regard to particles in flames. First, an experimental program is underway which is examining the factors governing particle growth. The information provided by the experiments will be valuable in predicting weather a particle will either completely oxidize in a flame or be released into the atmosphere. The second aspect of the research program involves the prediction of the radiative properties of combustion-generated particles. Results here will be useful in assessing the contribution of particles to the overall heat release from a flame, and in determining the effect on heat transfer from particle fouling of heat exchanger surfaces.

The Fluid Mechanics Research Laboratory is a modern facility dedicated to both fundamental and applied experimental studies of complex fluid flow problems. Along these lines, state-of-the-art laser-based flow diagnostic tools, including a TSI one-component laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV), LDV computer-controlled data acquisition system, laser sheet visualization unit and digital image processing hardware & software are routinely used in research studies to elucidate spatially-resolved velocity field, turbulence data and qualitative flow pattern information. Two other experimental facilities, namely high-Reynolds and low-Reynolds number recirculating water tunnels are available. These facilities were designed to be versatile and can easily be modified for new applications. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes have been developed in-house and along with a number of commercial codes, they are used to verify and complement the experimental studies.