AEM Undergrad Receives Student Research Competition Award

Recent graduate Caleb Euteneuer was one of four students from across the country to be recognized for his outstanding research in combustion by the Combustion Institute, an international scientific society founded in 1954.

"Receiving this award really validates the hard work and dedication of the last four years," says Euteneuer. "It was also really interesting to see what other people were working on and where the research is headed."

Euteneuer's research focused on the 3D wedge-induced aspect of next-generation hypersonic propulsion, specifically shock-induced combustion ramjet engines. The research was conducted in the Computational Reactive Flow and Energy Lab (CRFEL) under Suo Yang, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Using high-performance supercomputing and detailed chemistry, Euteneuer conducted the first cell-resolved 3D simulation of a hydrogen-air oblique detonation wave (ODW) passing over a wedge.

While traditional models are limited to 2D, the 3D simulation captured fluid instabilities in the third dimension. This revealed a highly complex five-zone wave structure with the addition of an additional zone when compared to 2D simulations. It also revealed two additional transverse wave families. The research also discovered that these multi-directional wave interactions generate more frequent and more powerful, localized energy bursts called "micro-jets," providing critical new insights for stabilizing combustion at speeds up to Mach 17.

Besides an extensive number of CPU hours using resources provided by the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, Euteneuer also acknowledged the coursework that helped lay the foundation for his research.

"Taking the computational fluid dynamics course with Professor Nichols definitely helped me understand the underlying basis of how everything worked," reflects Euteneuer. "Professor Candler and my propulsion classes really helped me understand hypersonic flight as well as how the shocks interact."

With his Bachelor's of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics secured, Euteneuer hopes to explore a career in computational fluid dynamics or hypersonic flight.