Fluid Dynamics Undergraduate Research

I worked as a researcher in NC State’s Turbulent Shear Flow Laboratory (TSLA) throughout Summer 2018 where I trained under Dr. Venkat Narayanaswamy and the laboratories Ph.D. students in the supersonic wind tunnel lab for a month, learning the various experimental methods before being given my own project. I was tasked with leading an experimental investigation of inlet unstart physics, a phenomenon which limits the further development of hypersonic aircraft. I planned and carried out experiments to characterize the flowfield of a model ramjet/scramjet engine under various conditions believed to influence the initiation of the phenomenon. In doing so, I gained an understanding of fluid dynamics and learned to collect, process, and analyze data to produce formal, publication quality, technical writing. The paper included below is the summation of my work in the lab, an analysis of the data which I collected in a mock-conference paper format. Due to limited timeframe of my work, I was unable to officially publish anything, but I intend to continue working in the lab throughout my undergraduate career so that I might eventually publish some of my work in a reputable aerospace journal.

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