Chattanooga engineers kicked off their yearly Engineers Week with a luncheon at the Clarion Hotel on Monday. Dr. Roger Briley, Professor at the UT SimCenter at Chattanooga, spoke to the engineers about the work of the SimCenter and the emerging technology of computational simulation.
Dr. Briley said the traditionally lengthy process of designing and building a prototype for testing and then modifying the prototype can be shortened using computational simulation. He said some dangerous testing, like on submarines or aircraft, can also be done using computers to simulate the tests. “You really don’t want to experiment under certain circumstances, like testing a submarine at crush depth. It helps to do all you can with computational simulation.”
The use of computers to simulate air flow and its affect on a vehicle has been used on the military’s Ospry aircraft to test landing on an aircraft carrier. “We found that the wind flow over the ship affects the landing of the Ospry, it would land tilted and be very tricky,” Dr. Briley said. “It would be very difficult to test this unless it was done through computational simulation.”
The Chattanooga Aquarium has even gotten into the simulation act, asking the SimCenter to evaluate the air flow around and across their new building addition. “When designing a structure, it has to be able to withstand the aerodynamic force of the wind. By simulating this force, we give them an idea where the most sensitive parts of the building will be so they can beef them up.”
Dr. Briley said the study of computational simulation can improve everyday products and technologies. “We focus on real world engineering analysis and design that has many practical applications for us today.”
The UT SimCenter at Chattanooga was established in 2002 to pursue its mission of integrated research and education in computational engineering. An M.S. degree in computational engineering is now offered at UTC, with a Ph.D. program planned for early 2004.