My third day started with a tour of the Spray and Engine Diagnostics Lab. In this lab, students were experimenting with diesel and finding ways to increase efficiency in engines. Fujun and Kaushik explained the process behind spraying diesel and how it was used in an experiment. They had ways to record the spray distance, pressure, and speed within the span of a few milliseconds. Using their experimental setup, students could observe how diesel behaves at extremely high injection speeds. I was also able to visit the High-Pressure Combustion and Laser Diagnostics Lab. In this lab, lighter gases can be injected into special chambers and ignited. I was able to see the setup used for this process, as well as footage from previous combustions. In these experiments, many variables are closely monitored and controlled, including pressure, temperature, injection speed, and the components of the air in the lab room. Something as small as 2% more oxygen in the combustion chamber can drastically alter the resultant temperature, so students have to be very careful. I was also lucky enough to observe an experimental setup that could record the temperature of a flame using lasers. Later in the day, I visited the Intelligent Structures and Systems Research Lab. There I learned about artificial muscles, drone flight, and aeroelasticity. Something that was being studied in this lab was the small fluttering motions that plane wings sometimes made during flight. There were several ideas for turning that motion into a source of energy.
An “artificial muscle” using air and a meticulously woven fabric
A presentation about the injection of diesel at high pressure.
a video of gases combusting in a small chamber