ANSYS Distinguished Lecturer
Elaine S. Oran
O’Donnell Foundation Professor
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Texas A&M University at College Station
"Shocks, Flames, and Turbulence - Their Interactions and the Transition to Detonation "
ABSTRACT:
Some of the most complex and difficult problems in fluid-dynamic systems involve transitions among what appear to be relatively stable states. When these systems also involve exothermic nuclear or chemical reactions, the results can be dramatic and unexpected. Such reactive-flow transitions are critical elements in physical systems ranging from propulsion, to accidental fuel explosions, to explosions of thermonuclear supernova, and arguably to the primal explosion that created the universe. The transitions are almost always mediated by shock waves and interactions of shocks waves. In this presentation, we examine several examples of transition to the strongest form of reactive-flow explosion, a detonation. These could be a natural gas explosion in a coal mine, a vapor cloud explosion in a fuel storage facility, a hydrogen-detonation in a nuclear power plant, or an exploding white dwarf star. All of these types occur through a series of shock interactions. An important point is that understanding the basic principles that control these explosions and transitions in one area of science or engineering has informed and advanced other very different fields.
BIOGRAPHY:
Elaine S. Oran is O’Donnell Foundation Chair and Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. Previously she was the A. James Clark Distinguished Professor and the Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor at the University of Maryland. For many years before that, she was the Senior Scientist for Reactive Flow Physics at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. She received an A.B. in chemistry and physics from Bryn Mawr College and both a M.Ph. in Physics and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University. She is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the AIAA, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Combustion Institute, the APS, AIAA, ASME, and SIAM. She received the Zel’dovich Gold Medal from the Combustion Institute and the Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society. Currently her research interests include chemically and nuclear reactive flows, turbulence, numerical analysis, high-performance computing, shocks and shock interactions, and rarefied gases, with applications to combustion, propulsion, and all sorts of explosions ranging in scale from micro-dynamical to astrophysical. Her most recent efforts involve developing a large-scale experimental facility to study fundamental questions in shock interactions and detonations.
Thursday, March 16 at 11:00 a.m.
Benedum Hall, 102
3700 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261
ANSYS Distinguished Lecturer
Elaine S. Oran
O’Donnell Foundation Professor
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Texas A&M University at College Station
"Shocks, Flames, and Turbulence - Their Interactions and the Transition to Detonation "
ABSTRACT:
Some of the most complex and difficult problems in fluid-dynamic systems involve transitions among what appear to be relatively stable states. When these systems also involve exothermic nuclear or chemical reactions, the results can be dramatic and unexpected. Such reactive-flow transitions are critical elements in physical systems ranging from propulsion, to accidental fuel explosions, to explosions of thermonuclear supernova, and arguably to the primal explosion that created the universe. The transitions are almost always mediated by shock waves and interactions of shocks waves. In this presentation, we examine several examples of transition to the strongest form of reactive-flow explosion, a detonation. These could be a natural gas explosion in a coal mine, a vapor cloud explosion in a fuel storage facility, a hydrogen-detonation in a nuclear power plant, or an exploding white dwarf star. All of these types occur through a series of shock interactions. An important point is that understanding the basic principles that control these explosions and transitions in one area of science or engineering has informed and advanced other very different fields.
BIOGRAPHY:
Elaine S. Oran is O’Donnell Foundation Chair and Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. Previously she was the A. James Clark Distinguished Professor and the Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor at the University of Maryland. For many years before that, she was the Senior Scientist for Reactive Flow Physics at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. She received an A.B. in chemistry and physics from Bryn Mawr College and both a M.Ph. in Physics and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University. She is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the AIAA, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Combustion Institute, the APS, AIAA, ASME, and SIAM. She received the Zel’dovich Gold Medal from the Combustion Institute and the Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society. Currently her research interests include chemically and nuclear reactive flows, turbulence, numerical analysis, high-performance computing, shocks and shock interactions, and rarefied gases, with applications to combustion, propulsion, and all sorts of explosions ranging in scale from micro-dynamical to astrophysical. Her most recent efforts involve developing a large-scale experimental facility to study fundamental questions in shock interactions and detonations.
Thursday, March 16 at 11:00 a.m.
Benedum Hall, 102
3700 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261