{"id":1330,"date":"2021-10-27T18:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T22:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2025-07-29T18:12:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T22:12:59","slug":"baccarella-brings-hypersonics-lab-up-to-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/baccarella-brings-hypersonics-lab-up-to-speed\/","title":{"rendered":"Baccarella Brings Hypersonics Lab Up to Speed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assistant Professor Damiano Baccarella<\/a> joined the mechanical engineering faculty in 2019 and immediately set to work building his research team and lab. The 2020 pandemic threatened to slow them down, but some good old Volunteer spirit kept wind in his hypersonic sails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy experience at UT has been absolutely great,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat I loved about UT since day one is the collaborative environment existing between faculty members and between faculty and staff. It really made me feel like part of a big family and never left alone to face difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stamp of approval on the national level added even more support. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research delivered a 2020 Young Investigator Research Program award to Baccarella and crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe YIP award will give me the opportunity to test and validate the newly built tunnel on a very challenging problem of great interest for the Air Force and for the entire aerospace community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem to be solved stems from thermochemical nonequilibrium, a phenomenon that occurs in hypersonic flows and complicates the ability to match wind tunnel data with actual flight conditions. The Tennessee High-Enthalpy Tunnel, the centerpiece of Baccarella\u2019s lab, will be a productive new tool in better understanding nonequilibrium and allow ground testing to match flight testing. This, in turn, will enable better capabilities in hypersonic research at UT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been working on this type of pulsed hypersonic wind tunnel throughout my entire career, starting from my master thesis at the University of Pisa [Italy] back in 2006,\u201d he said. \u201cI designed similar tunnels at the University of Notre Dame and University of Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baccarella has designed and operated systems like this under a wide range of conditions, adapting them to a variety of research tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the system I\u2019m building at UT, I will exploit all the previous knowledge I accumulated to build a system with double the power and significantly enhanced capabilities compared to previous versions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His lab\u2019s ultimate purpose is to make high-enthalpy hypersonic research more accessible at an academic level outside of national laboratories that have limited access and higher cost. The design of the new tunnel allows for a more timely and cost-effective investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNovel diagnostics techniques can be developed and optimized in our tunnel at relatively low cost before committing to a full-scale test in a large facility,\u201d said Baccarella. \u201cIn addition, this laboratory will provide unique training capabilities for the next generation of scientists and workforce for the expanding field of hypersonics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is a key element, the hypersonic wind tunnel is not the lab\u2019s only feature. The team will also add facilities for material testing under high-temperature flow conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be certainly possible to transfer knowledge and equipment from one project to another in a synergistic manner to improve our overall capabilities,\u201d said Baccarella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This collaborative approach lights the way for exciting new opportunities for discovery and innovation at UT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Damiano Baccarella is using an Air Force YIP Award to jump start his research into hypersonics by improving the tools available on campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[384,7,6],"tags":[428,281,429],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","category-news","category-research","tag-air-force","tag-damiano-baccarella","tag-yip-award"],"yoast_head":"\nBaccarella Brings Hypersonics Lab Up to Speed - Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Damiano Baccarella is using an Air Force YIP Award to jump start his research into hypersonics by improving the tools available on campus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/baccarella-brings-hypersonics-lab-up-to-speed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Baccarella Brings Hypersonics Lab Up to Speed - 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