International Lecture Series Draws 52 Scientists to Illinois

5/8/2014 Susan Mumm, Media Specialist

LS-STO/VKI Lecture Series makes a rare U.S. appearance with an event at the University of Illinois.

Written by Susan Mumm, Media Specialist

AE Assistant Prof. Marco Panesi
AE Assistant Prof. Marco Panesi
AE Assistant Prof. Marco Panesi
High speed re-entry represents a current challenge for space exploration programs. At such flight conditions shock layer radiation becomes a substantial part of the heat-transfer to the wall in addition to the Gas-Surface interaction (GSI) phenomena, with possible coupling effects.

In a recent rare appearance in the United States, the prestigious LS-STO/VKI Lecture Series brought 52 international scientists to the University of Illinois to examine radiation and gas-surface interaction phenomena in high speed re-entry.  The lecture series disseminate among students and young professionals state of the art knowledge in a fluid mechanics-related field. Presentations are given by world-class lecturers who have distinguished themselves for their unique contributions to the field of fluid mechanics.

“The Lecture Series (held April 7-9) was a success, with attendees from five European countries, five US universities, four government research centers and four aerospace businesses, ” said Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Assistant Prof. Marco Panesi. He organized the Urbana campus event, in conjunction with Prof. Olivier Chazot and Prof. Thierry Magin from the esteemed Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium.

The objective of the special course focused on the extreme re-entry situations where the physical phenomena are much more pronounced and start to interplay. The ground testing capabilities and limitations for high speed re-entry were reviewed with the associated instrumentation. Radiation modeling as well as the modeling development for GSI in such conditions were presented. The consistent integration of those high fidelity models into CFD codes were inspected with their reliability to provide accurate ground-to-flight extrapolation. 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration co-sponsored the event, which has been held in this country only a few times in the series’ 40-year history.
Panesi hopes the event’s impact will promote long-term working relationships among the scientists.

 


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This story was published May 8, 2014.