2022 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award Goes to UMN ME's Suo Yang

ME Assistant Professor Suo Yang received an ONR YIP award for his project, "Physics-Based Modeling of Multicomponent Transcritical Phase Change and Spray Breakup in High-Pressure Liquid-Fueled Combustors."

Advanced liquid-fueled propulsion and power systems relevant to the U.S. Navy (e.g., future detonation engines and high-power gas-turbine jet engines) almost always operate under high pressures for high power density and thermodynamic cycle efficiency. The involved high-pressure spray breakup, evaporation, mixing, and combustion processes are not well understood and their physics-based modeling is not well developed, which severely limits the development of new technologies for Navy-relevant propulsion and power systems.

Yang's project will develop a united multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework, which can accurately predict phase change and interface dynamics of multicomponent mixtures in all thermodynamic regimes. The high-fidelity CFD simulations enabled by the project will promote the development of new propulsion and power technologies for long-term national security needs. 

To see a full list of ONR YIP award recipients, visit the 2022 Young Investigator Award page.