Abstract: Despite recent advances in computational fluid dynamics, it is still difficult to simulate many industrial flow applications. Experimental measurements, moreover, are often either pointwise or confined to a specific region of the flow domain. In this talk, we discuss how limited experimental measurements can be integrated into low-fidelity simulations for a more complete picture of the flow field. More specifically, we data-assimilate mean velocity particle image velocimetry data around a NACA 0018 airfoil into a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulation without a turbulence model. We also reconstruct the fluctuating velocity field by inputting the data-assimilated mean velocity field into resolvent analysis. The most amplified structure at each temporal frequency is extracted and its complex amplitude is calibrated with a single time-resolved probe. Although the velocity fluctuations are accurately captured in the near-wake, the fluctuating velocity field is overestimated in the far-wake. The excess fluctuation energy in this region is traced back to shortcomings with the most amplified resolvent mode, which only captures energy exchange between fluctuations and the mean. The talk concludes with data-driven methods that model the missing fluctuation to fluctuation energy exchanges.
Bio: Sean studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland where he completed a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in French Language/Literature in 2012. The following year, he completed a Master of Science in Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology. Before beginning his PhD, Sean studied at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris where he was awarded a masters in fluid mechanics in 2014. He returned to Caltech for his PhD under the supervision of Beverley McKeon. Sean defended his thesis in 2018 and became a post doctoral research fellow in Australia for 2 years at the University of Melbourne, working with Simon Illingworth and Ivan Marusic. He began as a lecturer in the Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Group in 2020 at the University of Southampton.
Host: Professor Tess Saxton-Fox
