Missouri S&T professor’s micro research project receives major Air Force grant 

Posted by
On July 25, 2024

Dr. Zhi Liang. Photo by Greg Edwards/Missouri S&T.

Dr. Zhi Liang. Photo by Greg Edwards/Missouri S&T.

Dr. Zhi Liang from Missouri S&T is researching something so small that it can’t be seen by the naked eye, but its implications could be so large that the Air Force Office of Scientific Research recently awarded him a three-year, $600,000 grant. 

Liang’s research team is studying microdroplets of fuel that range from a few micrometers to 50 micrometers in size. To put that in perspective, the typical size of a human hair follicle ranges from 50 micrometers to 100 micrometers. 
 
“Advanced propulsion systems like scramjets, detonation engines and rocket engines operate in extremely high pressure and high-temperature environments,” says the associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. “And we are working to better understand how these harsh environments affect the dynamics and evaporation of fuel microdroplets.” 
 
The Air Force is funding the project as part of its Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research initiative. 

By developing models and running experiments, Liang says he aims to predict how single droplets are mixed with air and how engine combustion could be improved.  
 
“The better we can understand what is actually happening at this micro-level, the better researchers will be able to address the performance of propulsion systems and have results that could benefit hypersonic vehicles and traveling in space,” he says. 
 
Although the topic of microdroplets in advanced propulsion systems has been researched by other engineers in recent years as well, Liang says his project will be the first one of a large magnitude that includes both multiscale modeling and droplet-scale experimental components. 
 
“This is fundamental research,” he says. “We aim to have the work we are doing now eventually published in high-impact academic journals and then used to help with more practical applications.”  

Liang, who serves as the project’s principal investigator (PI), says the Missouri S&T research team, which will include him, as well as one graduate student and one undergraduate student, will focus on the modeling components of the project. 
 
Dr. Shyam Menon, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Louisiana State University, will serve as a co-PI. His group, which will also include two students, will handle the experimental aspects of the project and use a high-pressure, high-temperature test chamber, among other types of equipment.  
 
For more information about Missouri S&T’s mechanical and aerospace engineering programs, visit mae.mst.edu

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.

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On July 25, 2024.

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