Thermal Sciences

Generally speaking, the thermal sciences focus on the transfer of heat, a process that is critical to many applications in industry and many environmental events. Whenever there is the need to cool a device such as an engine, computer, or structure, the attendant problems are part of the thermal sciences. When heat is transferred in the atmosphere via, for example, solar heating of the planet’s surface, or cooling of the surface via rainfall, this too is part of the thermal sciences.

In the Department of Mechanical Engineering, research in the thermal sciences addresses issues such as how heat is transferred during phase change, during the process of combustion, during unique high-speed, small-scale processes, and using specific phase change devices such as heat pipes.

Research Topics

1. Combustion (Miller, Tong, Wagner): High fidelity, parallel supercomputing of low and high-pressure turbulent combustion in fundamental, canonical geometries. Experimental investigation of turbulence-chemistry interaction in turbulent flames using laser diagnostics. Real-time control of internal combustion engine subsystems for efficiency gains
2. Interfacial and Phase Change Heat Transfer (Bostwick, Ochterbeck, Saylor): Investigation of air/water heat transfer, particularly combined with evaporation; the impact of surfactant monolayers on air/water interfacial processes, such as evaporation and condensation. Theoretical modeling of thermocapillary flows also occurs in this area as well as experimental studies of boiling including sub-cooled pool boiling, nucleate boiling in packed beds, Leidenfrost effect in film boiling, and studies of the critical heat flux. Dropwise condensation focused on the effect of substrate properties is also an area that is studied.
3. Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics & Molecular Transport (Saez, Miller, Zhao): Studies of the effects of generalized diffusion models for heat and mass transfer and their effects in high-pressure turbulent combustion. Investigation of nonequilibrium, ultrafast, and micro/nano-scale electron dynamics and heat transfer during laser-matter interactions. Analysis of the effects of thermal gradients on mass transport of defects and impurities in extreme environments.
4. Thermal Systems Management and Heat Pipes (Ochterbeck): Thermal management of processes through control of temperature based on thermodynamics and heat transfer with application to electronics and aerospace. Theoretical and experimental investigations of the performance of heat pipes and capillary pump loops during startup and steady state.