Fulbright success for aerospace researcher
Abel-John Buchner
A Monash aerospace researcher will initiate a collaborative research project at Princeton University developing biologically inspired renewable energy technology after being awarded a prestigious Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship.
Mr Abel-John Buchner, a PhD candidate in the Laboratory for Turbulence Research in Aerospace and Combustion (LTRAC) in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will take up his scholarship at Princeton University in August. He is one of 27 Australian scholars to be presented with a Fulbright or Anne Wexler Scholarship for study in leading US institutions in 2013.
Mr Buchner will spend 12 months working with fluid dynamics expert Professor Alexander Smits, extending and applying his PhD research into biological propulsion to further understand the behaviour of wind turbines.
“There are actually some remarkable aerodynamic similarities between the two,” Mr Buchner said.
Wind power is an increasingly important part of Australia’s energy-producing sector, Mr Buchner said, but traditional wind turbines pose a number of daunting technical challenges, which threaten to limit further growth of wind-based renewable energy.
“My work focuses on an unsteady aerodynamic phenomenon called dynamic stall, and though my research to date has been related to the aerospace industry, I have found that dynamic stall is surprisingly universal in flows both natural and man-made,” Mr Buchner said.
“Dynamic stall affects the forces produced by the flapping wings of birds and insects and the caudal fins of marine vertebrates, and also affects the efficiency, force and noise production of helicopter rotors, wind turbines and other rapidly moving mechanical systems.”
Mr Buchner said his research into the dynamic stall of the wings of birds will give a better understanding of flows over wind turbine blades, leading to better designs for renewable energy technology.
Experiments focusing on flow separation during dynamic stall, and the stability and transition of the flow towards a turbulent state, will help develop biologically inspired predictive models for wind turbine design.
“Understanding strategies found in nature to either reduce or control dynamic stall has the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency of wind turbines whilst also reducing noise and mechanical vibration,” Mr Buchner said.
“Bio-inspired design, utilising naturally evolved approaches to fluid flow, can provide us with elegant solutions to complex engineering problems.”
Mr Buchner, who joins Dr Daniel Viete from the Department of Civil Engineering as a recipient of a 2013 Fulbright Scholarship, is the third member of LTRAC to receive a Fulbright scholarship since 2007. His PhD supervisors at Monash are Professor Julio Soria and Associate Professor Damon Honnery.
Mr Buchner has an obvious passion for science and engineering design and feels strongly that the union between technology and nature can lead to exciting new developments in building a clean energy future.
The Fulbright program, the largest educational scholarship of its kind, was created by US Senator J. William Fulbright and the US Government in 1946. Aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange, it operates between the USA and 155 countries.