MAE Seminar: Laser-induced Breakdown for Ignition and other Stories in Plasma-coupled Combustion

McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium (MDEA)
Jonathan Freund
Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Mechanical Science & Engineering and Aerospace
University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign

Abstract:  A brief overview of the Center for Exascale Simulation of Plasma-coupled Combustion (XPACC) will provide context for several in-depth research efforts in computational flow physics, all related to the simulation challenges and physical mechanisms of engineering with plasma-coupled combustion. These studies will include the vortex dynamics induced by a laser-induced optical breakdown, how such a breakdown seeds ignition and detonation, a new approach for using machine-learning to augment simulation models for such multi-physics systems, and an assessment of field-emission dielectric-barrier-discharge actuators to improve microcombustors. 

Bio: Jonathan Freund is the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Mechanical Science & Engineering and Aerospace at the University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign. He is a fellow ofthe American Physical Society and a winner of the 2008 Frenkiel Prize from its Division of Fluid Dynamics where he currently serves as the division secretary/treasurer. He is an associate editor of Physical Review Fluids and on the editorial board of Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics. Computational science has been central to his research,which has included simulations of turbulent jet noise and its control, the dynamics of molecularly thin liquid films, nanostructure formation by ion-bombardment of semiconductor materials, and most recently the dynamics of red blood cells flowing in the narrow confines of microcirculation. He co-directs XPACC, the DOE-funded Center for Exascale Simulation of Plasma-coupled Combustion, at the University of Illinois.