AME Chuan F. Chen Memorial Lecture: Siva Thangam
Thursday, March 14, 2024 - 4:00 p.m.
Siva Thangam
Dean of Academic Administration
Stevens Institute of Technology
Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science
Department of Mechanical Engineering
"Modeling Turbulence in Complex Flows"
AME S212 | Zoom link
Abstract
Modeling of turbulent flows is more commonly achieved through Reynolds stress closure using intuitive approximations or by physical analogy. In such cases, turbulence is often assumed to be characterized by a single length and time scale, whereas, in practice, turbulence is excited by a wide range of length and time scales. In this presentation, the development of anisotropic two-equation models for Reynolds stress based on the modification of the energy spectrum to account for the complexities in the flow will be described. The resulting generalized two-equation turbulence model is validated for several benchmark turbulent flows with swirl and curvature. An overview of ongoing experimental and computational investigations for flow past axially aligned and spinning cylinders will be provided.
Biosketch
Siva Thangam joined the mechanical engineering faculty at Stevens in 1980 after completing his doctoral studies at Rutgers University. He received tenure in 1987 and was promoted to professor of mechanical engineering in 1990. His main research interests are in the area of turbulence modeling with a focus on modeling of complex flows. In the area of computational fluid dynamics, he is involved in turbulence modeling of separated flows and computational modeling and prediction of simultaneous heat and mass transfer in process applications. In the turbomachinery area, his research is directed toward the aeroelastic modeling of turbomachinery blades. He served as the interim head of the Mechanical Engineering Department and as the associate dean of the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering from 1996-2001. He was the director of the New Jersey Space Grant Consortium from 1993-2005. During 1990-98, he was a consultant for the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering, NASA Langley Research Center. Since March 2007 he has served as the dean of academic administration at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Chuan F. Chen Memorial Lecture Series
The Chuan F. Chen Memorial Lecture Series at the University of Arizona, established by the generous support of the Chen family (Frances, Peter, Ann, Paul, Yihua, Philip & Grace), remembers and celebrates the life of Chuan F. Chen (1932-2019).
Chuan F. "Tony" Chen, professor emeritus of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona passed away peacefully on August 17th, 2019. Dr. Chen was born in Tianjin, China, and came to the United States in 1950 to study mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois. After completing his MS degree in 1954, he continued his graduate studies in aeronautical engineering at Brown University, earning his PhD in 1960. In 1980, Tony and his family moved to Arizona, where he was head of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona from 1980-89.
Dr. Chen made important and lasting contributions in a number of areas, ranging from aerodynamics to the stability of Taylor-Couette and time-dependent flows, to doubly-diffusive flows, the latter including solidification and geological fluid mechanics. Nothing delighted Tony more than finding something new and understanding it. He employed a mix of experimental and theoretical techniques, training many of his PhD students in both. His work was recognized by election to fellow status by APS, ASME, and AAAS. Tony received a distinguished alumni award from the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1982. He held visiting appointments at the University of Cambridge, NASA-Ames Research Center, the Australian National University, and in Karlsruhe. Dr. Chen also served as director of the Fluid Dynamics and Hydraulics Program at NSF.
With the Chuan F. Chen Memorial Lecture Series we celebrate his life and remind ourselves his lasting contributions.