Project Title:

Growth and Mobility of Cylindrical Bubbles in Microchannels

Professor A.V. Anilkumar

Brief Description of Project:

The formation and growth of cylindrical bubbles during materials solidification is detrimental to the cast material quality.  In a unique laboratory-scale flow visualization-based experimental facility, the entire large scale process is replicated in a microchannel, to examine bubble formation both form a fundamental fluid dynamic standpoint, and from a potential applications standpoint.   The bubble growth  process will be examined under a variety of experimental conditions, and then manipulated to design specific engineering shapes, like micro-nozzles, micro reactors etc. This project is very suitable for students interested in experimental work, and who have a flair for instrumentation engineering.   It is also a good preparation for pursuing graduate study in the thermo-fluid-propulsion area of mechanical engineering.

Nature of Supervision:

The student will work under the supervision of Dr. Anilkumar with the assistance of former graduate student, Matthew Cox

A Brief Research Plan (period is for 10 weeks):

The student will learn the instrumentation technology involved in the design and operation of a microchannel-based solidification apparatus.  With guidance, he will operate the apparatus and conduct experiments under a variety of imposed conditions.  The results will be analyzed and tabulated towards an archival publication.

Number of Open Slots:

1

Contact Information:

Professor Amrutur V. Anilkumar