The Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education (CoMFRE) has undergone notable developments over the course of the past year. CoMFRE became an official center in fall 2017, and it continues to grow as collaboration flourishes and research advances.
Jonghyun Lee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and CoMFRE faculty member, is leading a multiyear, $750,000 project titled Modeling and Simulations of Electrostatically Levitated Multiphase Liquid Drops.
Alex Wrede, a postdoctoral researcher with Hashemi Laboratory, is using engineering to unravel the mystery of traumatic brain injuries – and winning awards for how he tells the story of the impact of his work.
The 2019 CoMFRE Symposium and Member Meeting was held Oct. 28–29 in Ames. Industry members met in a closed meeting on Monday afternoon to receive updates on shared research and meet with CoMFRE faculty and students to discuss future research and goals for the center.
Pelin Guven Geredeli, assistant professor in mathematics, is bringing new ideas to the Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education with an enthusiasm to engage in cross-disciplinary collaboration.
We put a lot of things in a kitchen microwave, from Hot Pockets to leftover lasagna. But what about rocket propellant?
That’s essentially what Travis Sippel and his team are doing in a Young Investigator Project (YIP) with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. More specifically (and more safely), they are testing methods to dynamically control the combustion of a solid rocket propellant by applying microwave energy.
Modern internal combustion engines power military ground transportation and unmanned air vehicles (UAV). But in certain operating conditions fuel drops can significantly impinge on the engine piston surface of these engines, affecting the fuel mixture distribution and performance – and the success of missions. Song-Charng Kong, professor of mechanical engineering, and James Michael, assistant professor … Continue reading Predicting fuel drop-wall interactions, optimizing engine performance
Simulation of fluid moving through a valve Simulation of heart movement Simulation of fluid moving through heart valves Adarsh Krishnamurthy and Ming-Chen Hsu got to talking about their research interests – Krishnamurthy works in simulating cardiac mechanics and Hsu in simulating valve dynamics – when they had an idea. “He has the heart without the valve, … Continue reading In a heartbeat: Machine learning speeds up heart-valve simulations
Antonio Alvarez-Valdivia is getting hands-on research experience, working with mentor Jaime Juarez, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, to build a first-of-its-kind portable viscosity instrument.
After a long start-up process, the Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education, also known as CoMFRE, is off to a great start. CoMFRE Start The Iowa Board of Regents in December 2017 elected to give official “center” status to CoMFRE after a multi-year application process with assistance from the College of Engineering. In order … Continue reading CoMFRE, Engineering’s newest research center, off to great start
One mechanical engineering professor will use X-rays to study hydrate formations which can found in off-shore petroleum transport systems. Ted Heindel, Bergles Professor of Thermal Science in ME, recently received a $100,488 grant from the Chevron Corporation for an eight-month project entitled An exploratory investigation of using X-rays to characterize hydrate formation. “Hydrates can form … Continue reading ME’s Heindel to use X-rays to study hydrate formations
