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Universität Stuttgart

	IAG - Institute of Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics
	Introducing the Institute	deutsch

History:

The Institute of Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics has a long tradition. It was founded by Prof. A. Weise in 1946 and was first named Institute for Gas Flows. In 1960 it was renamed Institute of Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics. Especially the conception and development of a short-time supersonic wind tunnel realised as a large facility during the sixties, and of optical methods for recording measurement data were the primary research objectives of the institute.

In 1974 Prof. F. X. Wortmann became director of the IAG. He was involved in questions concerning the development of turbulence and its influences. Among experts he was well-known by the aerodynamic layout of airfoils for gliders and helicopters. During his term the laminar water tunnel, laminar wind tunnel and gust tunnel were built. In 1976 Dr. K. Förster was appointed professor. At the institute he pioneered using computers and numerical methods.

Under the direction of Prof. S. Wagner (1994 - 2004) the fields of work were expanded by Numerical Aerodynamics, Aeroacoustic and Aeroelastics. Also he extended the IT equipment and the capabilities of the measurement technique. A short time before he took up office, a group of young scientists dealing with the Direct Numerical Simulation of the laminar-turbulent boundary layer transition joined the IAG.

Since January 1, 1997 Prof. C. – D. Munz holds the chair in Construction of Numerical Methods.

Since October 1, 2004 the new director of the institute is Prof. E. Krämer. He was the head of aircraft physics at EADS military aircraft in Munich-Ottobrunn.

Staff:

The scientific staff includes 34 members mainly funded from third party resources and another 20 members working in the technical facilities, workshops, secretary's office, library and photographic laboratory.

Fields of work and research:

The institute works on projects which include aspects of theoretical, numerical and experimental research. The institute carries out orders from the aviation industry, wind-energy technique, automobile industry and environmental industry. The main tasks are: Fundamentals of flow behaviour in boundary layers near walls and shear layers (separation, transition, turbulence) and the possibilities of their active and passive control Analysis, design and optimisation of relevant aerodynamical components of aircraft vehicles and wind turbines, also under the condition of structure deformations resulting from aerodynamical loads Experimental verification of the efficiency of modern laminar airfoils including the development of new measurement techniques Experimental determination of wind loads on buildings, bridges and structures like stationary and mobile canopies, awnings etc. as well as studies of wind comfort Flows in facilities and industrial components like pipes, nozzles, air-conditioners, radiators, and fans Research of flows at super sonic speeds (called gas dynamics) Simulation of the flow processes on e. g. helicopters and wind turbines under aero-elastic deformations Aero-acoustics: research of the development and expansion of flow-induced noise and measurements for noise reduction Development and application of numerical methods of high order accuracy to simulate flow processes and acoustic wave propagation and numerical methods for flows with electromagnetic interactions The above-mentioned tasks comprise both experimental and theoretical/numerical studies. This combination of theory and practice to validate and support the obtained results is the strength of the institute.

Theory:

The IAG represents fluid dynamics within the course of Aerospace Engineering. Fluid Dynamics is a part of Mechanics to describe the steady and unsteady movements of fluids like air, gases or vapours and the balance of forces they exert on the flow boundaries. The corresponding mathematical equations are partial differential equations based on the conservation theorem for mass, impulse and energy. Because of the non-linearities of the equation system, numerical methods are required for their solution. Apart from the fundamentals of fluid dynamics, knowledge of experimental fluid dynamics and measurement techniques, as well as the development and application of numerical methods are taught. The first lectures, Basics of Fluid Dynamics and Numerical Methods, are staged before the intermediate diploma. In the further course main emphasis is put on the subjects Fluid Dynamics I and II and Numerical Simulation, which are compulsory for all students. In the 7th and 8th semester the IAG offers special topics of Fluid Dynamics which include Aircraft Aerodynamics, Boundary Layer Theory, Hypersonic Flow and Measurement Technique, Flow Visualization, Environmental Aerodynamics, Industrial Dynamics, Gas Dynamics, Aeronautics of Helicopters, Airfoil Design, Aerodynamic Design of Airfoils and Wings, Numerical Methods, Application of Flow Research. These lectures are accompanied by exercises, tutorials, practical training and seminars.

Experimental facilities/(equipment):

The IAG has various wind and water tunnels used for basic research and applied research and of course for internships, interim-diploma exam and final exam. Some of them are continuously used for contract works for enterprises of different industrial branches (see above). Laminar Wind Tunnel (Laminarwindkanal) with its extremely low turbulence level due to a measurement section of 0,73 x 2,7 m² Gust Tunnel (Böenwindkanal) which has a diameter of 6,3 m so that also objects of larger sizes can be measured in original size Boundary Layer Tunnel (Grenzschichtkanal) simulating turbulences near the ground (plane) in order to measure the static and dynamic wind loads on buildings, bridges etc. Large Shock Wind Tunnel (großer Stoßwindkanal) which allows short-time measurements at 4.5 times the speed of sound in a very large measurement section (0,8 x 1,2 m²) Water Tunnels (Wasserkanal) used to visualize flow processes because the dynamics in water are much slower than in air There are other simple test and mobile facilities which can be assembled as required in order to study certain flow problems quickly and easily. The IAG has its own mechanic workshop with the most up-to-date CNC-machines and a model-building workshop.

Computer equipment and numerical methods:

To carry out numerical simulations, the institute is equipped with a modern computer system consisting of Linux-based workstations and servers, a graphic supercomputer and the required periphery. For simulations of high quality the IAG has good access to PC-clusters, the University of Stuttgart's computer centre (URS) and to the High-Performance Computer Centre (HLRS).

Recently the IAG has installed its own PC-cluster with 76 64-bit Opteron CPUs and a three-dimensional visualization facility. For "Numerical simulation and optimization" the IAG mainly uses the following methods:

CATIA-V5: computer-aided design (CAD)
Gridgen (Pointwise), IGG (Numeca): generation of structured and unstructured/hybrid calculation grids
XFOILmod, MSES, TNO-TPD: airfoil design
flow simulation:
- panel methods: HISSS, UNPAC
- Euler / RANS (DES): FLOWer, Tau, In-house Codes, access to various commercial Codes (FLUENT, CFX, ...)
- DNS: In-house Codes
NASTRAN, In-house: flow-structure-coupling
EAS3 , TECPLOT, COVISE (VR): post-processing
iSight, EPOGY (POINTER), CMA-ES: optimization
aero acoustics: direct simulation tools (CAA) on the basis of heterogeneous or hybrid approaches (volume- and/or surface coupling), like e.g. Lighthill-analogy, incl. extensions due to Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings, perturbation methods, etc.