SMART CENSAM talk by Mr James Schulmeister (MIT)

Event Date: 29 Apr 2015 07:00 AM - 29 Apr 2015 08:00 AM

Event Venue: TBC (register at CENSAM's website)

Flow separation control for super maneuverability 

Seminar Abstract
Ocean vehicle design often requires compromises between efficiency and maneuverability. Unlike marine animals that morph their bodies to achieve tremendous performance in both areas, the rigid hulls of ocean vehicles are optimized for either one or the other. This tradeoff is due to flow separation, which causes low efficiency for compact maneuverable vessels, and poor maneuverability for efficient streamlined vessels.

In this talk, James explore the use of control surfaces to mitigate cross-flow separation for super maneuverability. I will present PIV measurements of the flow past a 5:1 prolate spheroid at an angle of attack with a prototype geometry modification. The prototype demonstrates a significant reduction in the drag penalty of sharp maneuvers.

Speaker’s Biography
James Schulmeister is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT, working with Prof Michael Triantafyllou’s team and close to graduation in late 2015. James studies flow separation control strategies for improving the maneuvering performance of ocean vehicles.

James comes to MIT after studying Engineering Science (Mechanical) at Yale and teaching as an International Fellow in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore.