Reference person |
Luigi de Luca - Professor of Fluid Dynamics (ING-IND/06) |
ERC sectors |
PE8_1 Aerospace engineering PE8_5 Fluid mechanics, hydraulic-, turbo-, and piston engines |
Group components |
Matteo Chiatto - RTDa Alessandro Della Pia - PhD student (DII) Antonio Colanera - PhD student (DII) Acquaviva Maria Rosaria - PhD student (DII) |
External components |
Onofrio Semeraro - Researcher (Université Paris-Saclay, France) Andrea Palumbo - Post-doc |
Activity outlines |
The Modal analysis, Stability and Numerical Simulation for Flow Control group is active in both theoretical and computational research fields of hydrodynamic stability and control as well as numerical simulation in thermo-fluid-dynamics. The group has a consolidated background in theory and methods of hydrodynamic stability as well as in modern modal decomposition methods of flow fields (POD, SPOD, DMD). The focus is mainly on linear stability analysis and the methods span from classical eigenvalues analysis to more modern non modal theories. The applications developed over the past years have been made in the analysis of shear and capillary instabilities of two-phase flows, such as the stability of a gravitational liquid jet (sheet or curtain) subjected to surface tension, to be employed for instance in the technology of coating deposition. Recent research activity has focused on the experimental characterization of another kind of liquid jets, namely the air-water two-phase flow behind a plane splitter plate, for the analysis of the related wake-mixing layer flow in the framework of the atomization and spray in combustors. Another research interest is related to the analysis and the development of micro-devices devoted to flow control (and also to heat transfer cooling), the so called piezo-driven and plasma synthetic jet actuators. The group developed a lumped-element physical model to predict the frequency response of both kinds of devices. The model was validated through experimental tests carried out on home-made devices having different mechanical and geometrical characteristics. More recently, the spark-jet plasma actuator device has been addressed, from both the theoretical modeling and the experimental viewpoints. Such flow control actuators can be used to modify (delay) the laminar-to-turbulent transition, to prevent or induce separation, and to enhance aerodynamic performances of airfoils (e.g., high lift). Applications have been carried out to control the flow over a backward facing ramp flow, on a morphing flap and on a vertical tail of an aircraft. The objective of the research in modal decomposition methods is to characterize the spatial and temporal properties of flow fields, extracting their basic features in terms of both spatial structures and dominant frequencies; once the main modes have been identified, a low rank reconstruction of the field can be performed either in frequency or in temporal domain. Within this framework, the flow control devices can be analyzed by both direct numerical simulation and data-driven modal decomposition techniques, with the formulation of Reduced Order Models (ROM) which can be helpful both to gain further insights on the features of the flow field and to carry out fast predictions regarding the effectiveness of the control strategies. These techniques have been applied to: two-phase flows like liquid jets (of relatively low and high velocity); backward facing ramp and curved cylinder; piezo-driven and plasma synthetic jets to be employed for flow control. The numerical simulation activity is conducted within three main research fields. The first one is relative to the applications of Volume of Fluid (VOF) techniques to complex two-fluid systems. Examples of recent applications are the study of liquid jets (both gravitational and behind a splitter plate of fuel injectors systems). The second research topic, related to the numerical simulation activity, is relative to the flow through small orifices (holes) of particular shaped geometry of thin plates used in the film cooling technology of aeronautic combustors. Finally, the third topic regards the simulation of the flow field produced by synthetic jet actuators (piezo-driven plasma devices), focusing both on the flow produced within the cavity and the one at the orifice exit section. |
Collaborations |
Prof. Francesco Grasso and Markus Hultmark, University of Princeton Prof. Marios Kotsonis, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands Prof. Jean-Christophe Robinet, DynFluid Laboratory, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, Paris Prof. Jessica Shang, University of Rochester AVIO GE, Pomigliano CIRA, Capua |
Recent visiting research activity |
Alessandro Della Pia, 11 months from March 2021 to January 2022, at University of Technology of Delft, under the supervision of Prof. Marios Kotsonis. Paper produced: Alessandro Della Pia, Theodoros Michelis, Matteo Chiatto, Marios Kotsonis and Luigi de Luca, Experimental analysis of the wake-mixing layer flow behind a plane splitter plate, to be submitted to Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2022 |
Recent Research Projects |
Distretto Aerospaziale Campano DAC, progetto regionale MISTRAL “Thermal control of a small satellite”, Responsabile del WP 1B-ABBB Thermal Analysis Support, 2015-2020 (46k Euro) Progetto Europeo Clean Sky Air Green, JTI-CS2 CPW1-REG-01-02 “Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuators for High Lift Devices” (responsabile di unità locale), 2015-oggi (120k Euro) C.I.R.A. nell’ambito del contratto SHAFT (Synthetic Jet Actuators for flow control) project (35k Euro) 2017-2020 AVIO AERO, nell’ambito del contratto “CFD Analysis to estimate the sensitivity of the pressure drop, measured through a shaped hole, by a proper pneumatic gauge, as the geometrical parameters are changed”, (35k + 35kEuro), 2021-oggi Bando per Progetti di Ricerca di RTDa del Dipartimento, “plasma Synthetic jet actuators to Control AircRaft Yaw moment (SCARY)". 15kEuro, 2021- 2022. |
Recent Publications |
Andrea Palumbo, Onofrio Semeraro, Jean-Christophe Robinet, Luigi de Luca Colanera, A., Della Pia, A., Chiatto, M. Chiatto, M., Della Pia, A. Della Pia, A., Colanera, A., Chiatto, M. Palumbo, A., de Luca, L. Ceglia, G., Chiatto, M., Greco, C.S., De Gregorio, F., Cardone, G., de Luca, L. Della Pia, A., Colanera, A., Chiatto, M., De Luca, L. Colanera, A., Della Pia, A., Chiatto, M., de Luca, L., Grasso, F. Chiatto, M., De Luca, L., Grasso, F. Chiatto, M., Shang, J.K., De Luca, L., Grasso, F. Della Pia, A., Chiatto, M., De Luca, L. Ceglia, G., Invigorito, M., Chiatto, M., Greco, C.S., Cardone, G., de Luca, L. Della Pia, A., Chiatto, M., De Luca, L. Palumbo, A., Chiatto, M., de Luca, L. Chiatto, M., Palumbo, A., de Luca, L. |