The Laboratory of Advanced Experimental Fluid Dynamics at SDSU

AE 301 Low Speed Aerodynamics (Fall 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and Spring 2022)
Prerequisite: Credit or concurrent registration in Aerospace Engineering 340.
The course uses the textbook “Fundamentals of Aerodynamics” by John Anderson. We will first discuss some fundamental concepts in low-speed aerodynamics. Then we will discuss fundamental principles and equations for low-speed aerodynamics. Topics of inviscid, incompressible flow including Bernoulli’s equation, uniform, source, doublet and vortex flows will then be introduced. Subsequently, incompressible flow over airfoils and finite wings, with the emphasis on thin airfoil theory and lifting-line theory, will be discussed in details respectively. Experimental characteristics of wing sections as well as high lift devices will also be covered in the course.

AE 303 Experimental Aerodynamics (Spring 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022)
Prerequisites: AE 341 Fluid Mechanics Laboratory and credit or concurrent registration in AE 301 Low Speed Aerodynamics.
This course covers the following topics: Fundamental Statistics, Error and Uncertainty Analysis; Instrumentation, data acquisition and calibration; Operating characteristics of subsonic and supersonic wind tunnels; Aerodynamic characteristics of wings and bodies; Wind tunnel boundary corrections, transonic testing; Flow visualization techniques; Force, moment and pressure distribution measurement; Determination of stability derivatives; Use of hot-wire anemometer; Schlieren equipment and Supersonic wind tunnel testing; Advanced measurement techniques, etc.

AE 340 Fluid Mechanics (Summer 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2020, Summer 2020, 2021 and 2022)
Prerequisites: Aerospace Engineering 220 or Mechanical Engineering 220; and credit or concurrent registration in Aerospace Engineering 280.
Catalog description: Fluid statics. Laminar and turbulent flow of liquids and gases in pipes, nozzles, and channels. Dimensional analysis and modeling. Drag forces on moving or immersed objects. The textbook "Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications" by Yunus A. Cengel, John M. Cimbala (4th Edition) will be used in the course. Formerly the course was numbered as Engineering Mechanics 340.

AE 341 Fluid Mechanics Lab (Spring 2016, 2017 and 2018)
This is a three-hour laboratory course.
Prerequisite: Credit or concurrent registration in Aerospace Engineering 340.
Catalog description: Flow measuring devices. Experimental applications of continuity, Bernoulli and momentum equations. Model studies. Pipe and channel flows. Flow visualization techniques. Operating characteristics of wind tunnel and water table. (Formerly numbered Engineering Mechanics 341.)

AE 550 Viscous Flow (Fall 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021)
Prerequisites: Aerospace Engineering 340 and credit or concurrent registration in Aerospace Engineering 515.
Topics covered in the course include: (1) viscous and fluid properties; (2) index notation; vector and tensor calculus; (3) velocity, strain, stress and constitutional relationship; (4) derivation of the continuity, momentum and energy equations; (5) exact solutions for Poiseuille and Couette flows; Stokes’ first and second problems; viscous stagnation flows; creeping flows and viscous particle motion; (6) perturbation method; shear thinning problem; channel flow thermal conduction problem; (7) boundary layer theory; thermal and viscous boundary layers at extreme high and low Prandtl numbers; (8) integral methods; Karman integral relation; Karman-Pohlhausen approximation; Thwaite’s method; boundary layer separation; (9) transition to turbulence; Kelvin-Helmholtz instability; Orr-Sommerfeld equation; inviscid stability theory; engineering prediction of transition; (10) Reynolds’ averaging and closure models; (11) computational methods; and (12) a final comprehensive numerical project.

AE 612 Compressible Fluid Flow (Fall 2014)
Prerequisites: Aerospace Engineering 302 and credit or concurrent registration in Aerospace Engineering 515.
Theory of flow at supersonic speeds. Topics include: wave propagation, isentropic flow, normal shocks, oblique shocks, Prandtl Meyer flow, flow with friction, flow with heat addition, linearized theory, three-dimensional wings in steady flight, slender-body theory, methods of characteristics and measurement techniques.

AE 696 Advanced Experimental Fluid Dynamics (Spring 2015 and 2019)
Prerequisites: AE340 Fluid Mechanics, AE 341 Fluid Mechanics Laboratory AE 550 Viscous Flow.
Topics covered in the course include: Pi Theorem, Fundamental Statistics, Error and Uncertainty Analysis, Data acquisition System, Aerodynamic Force Measurements, Seven-Hole Probe, Hotwire Anemometry, Laser Doppler Velocimetry, Particle Image Velocimetry, Image Acquisition and Processing, Fast Fourier Transform, Hilbert Transform, Conditional Sampling, Correlation Analysis and Combustion Diagnostic Techniques.