As a graduate research assistant, I led a team of two undergraduates collecting data for an experiment using double wall cooling for an effusion test plate. This experiment modeled the combustor liner cooling in gas turbine engines. The performance on both the hot side (combustion side) and cold side (coolant supply side) was measured. Temperatures were recorded using thermocouples on both sides of the test plate, as well as throughout the rest of the facility, using National Instrument’s LabView. The hot side utilizes a high-resolution infrared camera for data collection. The cold side utilizes a color camera and liquid crystal coating on the surface of the test plate to capture a sequence of images for ensemble averaging. The hot side cooling performance was measured with heat transfer coefficients and adiabatic film cooling effectiveness, and cold side cooling performance was measured with Nusselt numbers. Both data types were presented in line-averaged, local, and contour plot forms. These data sets were analyzed using MATLAB and presented through Microsoft Excel and MATLAB plots. Reports were compiled in Microsoft Word.

During my time as an Undergraduate Research Assistant, I led the construction of a new flow visualization facility. This new facility was designed to visualize coolant flow in a double wall cooling arrangement, and supplement previous data gathered from heat transfer experiments. This flow visualization facility was designed to be analogous to the original heat transfer facility, but oriented vertically as opposed to horizontally. The change in orientation required engineering of more complex stands than the original heat transfer facility. The facility was modeled in SolidEdge, and I used these models to design stands for the sections that required support. I managed two to three individuals during the construction process. In the related heat transfer project, I also completed many of the same tasks that are listed under my Graduate Research Assistant position. In addition to those tasks, I designed modifications to thin polystyrene layers for embedding thermocouples in an effusion test plate, and worked to streamline the data processing procedures to be completed quicker and more robust.