Hypersonic CHT validation
Hypersonic validation study of STAR-CMM+ and SU2 using a double wedge and cylinder respectively. Compared aerodynamic heating predictions to experimental data conducted by Francese and Wieting. Simulations show good agreement with experimental data, however, CHT predictions have prominent errors in SWBLIs and stagnation points.
Research on the Moon's geophysical conditions and its impact on the design and testing of lunar systems. Formulated qualification, Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AIT) requirements for future lunar systems.
A.I.T Requirements for lunar systems
Effect of heat source placement on the aerodynamic and aerothermal capability of a generalized rocket. Analysis of the sensitivity of simulation parameters at these elevated conditions using SU2. CHT simulations show a reversal of the heat flux vector between Mach 5 and Mach 7 at SSL conditions.
Internal heat sources on aerodynamics
High-speed CFD solver variation
An analysis of high-speed solver variation in open-source and commercial CFD solvers. Discrepancies from numerical or algorithmic implementation of turbulence models are poorly reported in literature, especially when simulating high-speed flows. Momentum and thermal boundary layers, and well as performance parameters are compared across Star-CCM+, SU2, rhoCentralFoam (openFOAM), and Ansys CFX to gain insight on solver variation.
Developed and wrote an unsteady N-S solver for the lid-driven cavity flow using UDS and QUICK Convection Schemes and 2nd Order Diffusion Scheme with energy on Python and FORTRAN95. Coded additional energy transport equation in OpenFOAM’s icoFoam. Compared both results to Ghia et. al.
Unsteady incompressible N-S solvers
A study to measure the impact of a bend in the hot air inlet branch when compared to a completely straight branch. Two parameters are analyzed: the thermal mixing effectiveness, and the mixing efficiency.
T-junction of a car HVAC system
Analytical aircraft design
A version of the DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 with a larger range and a smaller passenger load was desired. NACA 63-412 was selected due to its high lift coefficient. Fully analytical solution.
Automotive production line grippers
Design and development of a cost-effective approach to handling automotive components for welding and general material handling. Designed and FEA analysis conducted on SolidWorks. Evaluated the new design against old gripper using several engineering criteria.
Developed a spring-loaded, IP68, submersible, wet-mate electrical connector for the USV using SolidWorks. Conducted power, cost, thermal, and drive calculations for robot's motor and drivetrain selection to compute connector requirements.
IP68 wet-mate connector
Evaluated the design change of a diffuser with a sudden expansion to a diffuser with a gradual diffuser expansion with an included angle of 10°. Performance was measured using the pressure-recovery coefficient Cp.
Evaluation of an annular diffuser.
Tic-Tac-Toe robot.
Game algorithm programmed on C++, and later ported to RobotC to incorporate into Lego. The robot reads and respond to player input using a color/light intensity sensor. Design of the structure was based on a 3-Printer's x-y-z architecture and modular components were made using 3-D printed and laser-cut components.
Trebuchet optimization.
Designed, analyzed, and prototyped an efficient trebuchet to maximize the projectile range to trebuchet mass ratio.
3-Foot chess piece.
An examination how cheaply wood-worked components can be made, and if done right, can fetch a pretty penny. The entire structure was created from numerous glued wooden segments rather than a single block of wood to greatly reduce the cost. The overall cost of the project was an outstanding $5, and was appraised by an experienced woodworker at circa $450. Produced prototypes using Solidworks models and turned on a Lathe.
