Sutton Joins Ranks of NSF Career Award Winners

The objective of this research is to quantify the time-dependent coupling among the highly unsteady flowfield, species concentrations, local temperature, and reaction rates in turbulent flames.  Turbulent flows are inherently time-varying, three-dimensional phenomena, and when coupled to chemical reactions, create a highly dynamic system occurring on multiple length and time scales.  Turbulent combustion dynamics are not well understood, which limits the development of both advanced control strategies and predictive numerical models for engineering applications.  Measurements performed under this research program will resolve physical and chemical processes in both space and time and will be used to assess common assumptions found in time-dependent combustion models and guide future approaches.  The proposed research is rooted in a new class of multi-dimensional, high-repetition rate (> 10 kHz) laser diagnostic measurements of velocity, temperature, species concentrations, and reaction rates that have not been available previously.  In addition, there  will be collaboration with researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and colleagues through the International Workshop on Measurement and Computation of Turbulent Non-Premixed Flames and to assess, validate, and improve the predictive capabilities of current combustion modeling approaches.  

 

The NSF CAREER award honors teachers and scholars who are likely to become academic leaders in the future. Since 1996, NSF has given the award to faculty who effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution.