Department of Aerospace Engineering

Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics

The group has 5 faculty members working in various specialised areas of Aerodynamcis & Space flight mechanics. Broad reasearch intersets of the group includes, experimental and computational study of flow phenomena, design and optimization of aerospace vehicles, and space mission design. The ongoing research activities in the group are listed

Space Flight Mechanics

Research activities related to trajectory optimization for various space missions are being carried out. Evaluation of various optimization techniques for space missions and trajectory simulation packages with elaborate models also attempted.

Computational Aerodynamics and Design

The work carried out involve Wind turbine design, Unsteady Aerodynamics, Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamcis, Computational Aeroacoustics, Hypersonic Aerodynamics, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) studies for conceptual design of semi-ballistic reentry vehicle and sounding rockets, Development of new Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms (A2MOEA ), Conceptual sizing and multiobjective optimization studies for sizing hybrid airships.

Experimental Aerodynamics

The work carried out involve Shock/Detonation wave studies ,Unsteady Aerodynamics, Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics, Flow instabililiy & control , Aeroacoustics.

Thermal and Propulsion

The thermal and propulsion group actively pursue research to both advance scientific knowledge and create technological innovations in various fields of aerospace science and technology. In the area of chemical propulsion, computational and experimental research characterising the unsteady combustion behaviour of liquid and gaseous propellants by means of advanced diagnostics is ongoing. Our focus is on a variety of areas such as:

• turbulent combustion of gaseous and liquid fuels
• optical and laser diagnostics in reacting and non-reacting flows
• development of new diagnostic techniques for species concentration and temperature measurements
• Modeling and simulation of turbulent, compressible, reacting flows and reactive heat flow

We are also interested in problems related to heat transfer in space applications. Experimental, computational and analytical research is being conducted. Thrust areas are:

• characterisation of two phase flow in conventional and cryogenic systems.
• electronic cooling in mini and micro scales
• film cooling of combustion chambers/nozzles/turbine blades
• natural convection with confinement

Research in CFD is very diverse. Some of the current research focuses on

• computation of two-fluid flows with sharp interfaces
  development of high-resolution schemes for hyperbolic conservation laws and mass conservative level set algorithms.

Structures and Design

This group has seven faculty members working in the wide area of structures and design. Many of us are motivated to study problems in mechanics using modeling, experiments and computation. The focus areas include non-linear dynamics, structural acoustics, fluid structure interaction, stochastic mechanics, finite element methods, mesh-free methods, spectral finite element, smart materials, piezoelectric structures and elastic wave propagation. Studies in these thrust areas help to develop strategies for applications in Aerospace and allied engineering disciplines. Some of us have keen interest in mechanics of biological and bio-inspired composites using molecular dynamics, finite element methods and random fuse models. Applying traditional engineering wisdom to modifying and understanding biological systems is the crux of this research area. Some of us are involved in design, development and control of integrated systems like wheeled planetary rovers, deployment mechanisms and aids for rehabilitation.

Materials and Manufacturing

The materials and manufacturing group at IIST is presently focusing their research works in the following areas

• Micro/nano finishing of surfaces
• Welding and forming of metallic materials
• Heat treatment studies
• Synthesis and characterisation of Composites

The major work in the area of micro/nano finishing involves the experimental and theoretical investigations on magnetic/non-magnetic elastic abrasive finishing of surfaces. Few experimental facilities (lab scale versions) are developed in-house for producing ultra fine surfaces on the components and are mentioned below

• Elastic abrasive internal finishing setups
• Fluidized elastic abrasive finishing setup
• Rotary-elastic abrasive finishing setup
• Elasto-abrasive whip finishing setup
• Finishing setups using magneto-elastic abrasives and elasto- abrasive wires

Heat treatment studies on Beryllium copper for assessing the material a candidature for semi-cryo engines were investigated. Studies on similar and dissimilar welding of superalloys are being carried out to ascertain the right combination of process parameters for a sound weld. Feasibility studies on 15-5 PH Stainless Steel as an alternate material for few Vikas Engine Components are being carried out for durability. Sensitivity studies on the effect of raw materials and process parameters on the thermo mechanical properties of ablative composites used in solid rocket motor nozzles and liquid engines have been initiated.

A reasonably good number of publications in International Journals and Conference proceedings are published in the aforementioned areas. The existing lab facilities have supported two doctoral dissertations.

Industrial Engineering and Management

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