RESEARCH NEWS
Surface roughness impact on aero engines
University of Cambridge PhD student Abigail Berhane ’ s “ outstanding ” research , on the detrimental impact of surface roughness on aero engine efficiency , has been recognised with an award . The award recognises outstanding research with real-world application and assists students to pursue their research or careers .
Abigail , who is based at the Department ’ s Whittle Laboratory in the UK , has been presented with a PhD Student Award For Applied Research by the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research ( CSAR ) as well as £ 1,000 to support her in the final stages of her PhD .
Abigail is a research student with the ESPRC Centre for Doctoral Training ( CDT ) in Future Propulsion and Power . The CDT connects bright research minds with the most challenging problems in the industry .
With the aviation industry adopting the goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 , Abigail has been working in collaboration with Rolls-Royce to tackle the problem of ‘ surface roughness ’ on the aerodynamic performance of gas turbine blades . Surface roughness influences engine performance and is a contributing factor to the amount of specific fuel consumed by a gas turbine aero engine to generate thrust . Gas turbines are widely used in aircraft propulsion and power generation .
Together with Rolls-Royce , she has developed a novel experiment that can decompose the effects of roughness to its individual features , allowing engine designers to better predict the effects of different surfaces on thrust .
“ This is critical for the design , development and operation of aero engines , helping to reduce the lifetime environmental impact of aviation and any other industry hindered by aerodynamic inefficiencies ,” she explained .
“ Abigail ’ s experimental methodology : ‘ scan ; scale ; print ; measure ’, enables any engine component to be scanned in high resolution , pre-processed / scaled , 3D-printed and then measured in a wind tunnel ,” commented Cambridge University . “ For the first time , complete control over surface roughness features for testing can be gained via this process . Through this , isolated parametric studies can be performed to understand how different geometrical features of a rough surface affects its aerodynamic penalty .”
Abigail ’ s new method supersedes traditional methods adopted by the gasturbine industry , which were used for assigning an aerodynamic penalty to a rough surface . Examples include relying on limited measurements of a single-length scale , such as average roughness height , and incomplete methods of correlation analysis from the 1930s . n
www . en . cam . uk
Abigail Berhane .
Image : © University of Cambridge / Credit : Sofia Medina Cassillas .
Utilising the potential of old electric cars
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany is funding the ‘ Circular E-Cars ’ new Graduate Research Training Group at RWTH Aachen University ( 8.4- million euros in funding over the next four years ).
“ Electric cars ( e-cars ) contain significantly more valuable nonferrous metals and new types of composites and plastics than conventional cars . This being so , the recycling of end-of-life electric vehicles has enormous potential that has so far been underutilised . Current manual dismantling processes are time-consuming and costly . This is precisely where the new Research Training Group ( RTG ) Circular E-Cars comes in ,” explained the university .
Ten chairs supported by the Centre for Circular Economy and other institutions from RWTH Aachen University with five chairs from the University of Siegen ; two working groups from Münster University of Applied Sciences ; scientists from the Wuppertal Institute ; the sustainability initiative from universities in North Rhine-Westphalia , the Humboldtn initiative and industrial companies are pursuing the goal of developing the Rhenish mining area . Their aim is to create a leading European location for research , development and innovation that focuses on establishing metalfocused cycles for e-cars .
“ The project ’ s vision is to break new ground in the circular economy of various material flows from e-cars and to establish this in the Rhenish mining area ,” explained the spokesperson for the research training group , Professor Peter Letmathe at RWTH Aachen University . In addition to the technical side , the RTG also specifically covers business models , industrial locations and labour market skills , with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises .
In recyclability , ‘ Circular E-Cars ’ is breaking new ground in the dismantling of electric cars and the recycling of their components . This strengthens the resilience of the value chain in the automotive sector as a key German industry . Resource-efficient , ( partially ) automated disassembly processes will be developed using augmented reality and AI . All the elements of innovative , circular value chains for e-cars are being researched in 22 doctoral projects that are spread across the locations through solution partnerships with companies and various stakeholders from practical applications and science . n
Image : Shutterstock . com .
www . rwth-aachen . de
30 | ismr . net | ISMR October 2024