Related Groups at Stanford

Stanford Flow Physics & Computational Engineering Group

The mission of the Flow Physics and Computational Engineering (FPCE) is to provide new ideas, models, and computational tools for accurate engineering design analysis and control of complex flows (including chemical reactions, acoustics, plasmas, interactions with electromagnetic waves and other phenomena) of interest in aerodynamics, propulsion and power systems, materials processing, electronics cooling, environmental engineering, planetary entry, and other areas. A significant emphasis of FPCE is on physical modeling and analysis of engineering systems.

With rapid developments in computer technology, the future offers great opportunities for computational engineering analysis and design. FPCE blends research on flow physics and modeling with algorithm development, scientific computing, and numerical database construction and applications to systems involving flows. FPCE students and research staff are engaged in the development of new methods and tools for generation, access, display, interpretation and post-processing of large databases resulting from numerical simulations of physical systems.

The FPCE is closely linked with the Center for Turbulence Research (CTR), a joint enterprise of Stanford University and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). CTR has a large number of visiting scientists and post-doctoral scholars and has access to the world's largest supercomputers and wind tunnels. The pacing item for new turbulence model development is not computers or codes, it is new ideas. CTR's principal objective is to stimulate significant advances in the physical understanding of turbulence leading to improved capabilities for control of turbulence and to turbulence modeling for engineering analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on probing turbulent flow fields developed by direct numerical simulations using new diagnostic techniques and mathematical methods, and on new concepts for turbulence control and modeling.

Although the emphasis of the CTR is to advance the understanding of turbulent flows for aerospace applications, it is an interdisciplinary program; researchers with interest in turbulence from mathematics, aeronautics, meteorology, physics, oceanography, and other areas conduct their studies at the CTR. Current research projects include: Direct and large eddy simulations of complex turbulent and transitional flows, including studies of compressibility effects on turbulence; shock wave/turbulence interaction; turbulent mixing, heat transfer with application to electronic cooling, combustion, aerodynamics noise and hydro-acoustics; structure and mechanics of turbulent shear flows; active and passive turbulence control including applications of optimal control theory; fundamental turbulence modeling for applications, including effects of flow compressibility, rotation, solid boundary, flow separation, and chemical reactions; sub-grid scale modeling for large-eddy simulation of complex flows and non-equilibrium turbulent flows; and the development of algorithms for systems with broad range of scales in complex geometry, and parallel computing.

The unique infrastructure and environment provided by the combination of a premier research university and a neighboring government laboratory has been crucial to the development of CTR as an internationally respected research enterprise.

Stanford Thermosciences Group

Research in the Thermosciences Group combines traditional emphasis in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and combustion with understanding of atomic physics, lasers, and physical chemistry. The main emphasis is on performing fundamental experiments and deriving appropriate physics-based models of use to the engineering community. Applied research in areas ranging from temperature transients in transistors, to heat transfer in gas turbines, to Diesel engine combustion, to arcjet thrusters also is conducted in the Group. Current areas of emphasis include flow and heat transfer in complex turbulent flows, multiphase flow and combustion, plasma/surface interactions, high-speed combustion, laser-based flow and plasma diagnostics, heat-transfer in microscale electronic devices, thermal nanomachining, and reaction kinetics.

The Group includes three main laboratory facilities, the High Temperature Gas Dynamics Lab (HTGL), the Heat Transfer and Turbulence Mechanics Lab (HTTM), and the Microscale Thermal and Mechanical Characterization Lab (MTMC). The HTGL houses research on high temperature, high speed, and reacting flows. The lab includes several shock tubes for study of both high speed flows and reaction kinetics, a supersonic combustion wind tunnel, a large plasma torch, several high-vacuum chambers, a research furnace, several smaller combustion facilities, and extensive laser-diagnostics capabilities. The HTTM houses seven atmospheric pressure wind tunnels and two water channels, of various configurations, for research on turbulent flow and heat transfer. In addition, there is a high pressure tunnel for high Reynolds number research and a specialized multiphase flow wind tunnel and water channel. The MTMC is a joint endeavor with the Design Group. The lab includes optical equipment for temperature measurement in semiconductor devices and interconnects with ultra-high spatial and temporal resolution, and a modified atomic force microscope designed to heat a highly localized area of a surface.