Research and Instructional Facilities
The Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) possesses extensive state-of-the-art experimental facilities. Mechanics of materials facilities include a crystal growth apparatus and an arc-furnace capable of producing single crystals of custom metallic alloys that exhibit shape-memory, magnetostrictive, or other active behaviors. Further facilities include a one-of-a-kind biaxial tension test machine, a 1-Tesla electromagnet for magnetostriction studies, and a vibration-isolated Instron mechanical testing machine with an in situ Moiré interferometer for measuring surface displacements.
In addition to sensors and standard laboratory equipment, the aerospace systems program has extensive computational facilities and a new laboratory for satellite formation flying.
Fluid mechanics facilities include wind tunnels, water channels and tanks, jets, fluidized beds, and a shock tube. Hot-wire and laser-Doppler anemometers, PIV systems, high-power lasers, extensive equipment for high- and low-speed video and still photography, and numerous computers are available for diagnostics.
AEM has made a substantial investment in computer facilities over the last few years. Numerous SGI, Sun, and Pentium workstations are available for student use. The Department also runs a 16-processor Alpha cluster and a 64-processor Pentium III cluster of high-performance workstations; these computers are connected with high-speed Myinet making them ideal for large-scale parallel computations. All of these computers share a common file server, with access to many software packages. For instructional use, the Institute of Technology also provides several hundred workstations.
In addition, a high-speed network connects the department to the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute and the Army High Performance Computing Research Center.
The current resources of the Institute include a 390-processor IBM SP supercomputer with 663 gigabytes of memory, and two 96-processor SGI Origin 3800s. The resources of the Center include a 1088-processor Cray T3E-1200 and a state-of-the-art Graphics and Visualization Laboratory.
The department maintains an active machine shop that includes, in addition to standard machines, full 3D modeling capabilities, a Rapid Prototyping machine, a wire EDM machine and the largest CNC milling machine on campus. The shop foreman and one machinist collaborate with students and faculty members on the design of experimental facilities, apparatus, and models. Three full-time staff scientists assist in designing electronic circuits and in setting up and maintaining laboratory equipment and computer facilities.
Instructional Facilities
- Instrumentation Laboratory Director: T.W. Shield
- Wind Tunnels
Research Facilities
- Active Materials
Laboratory
Directors: T. W. Shield and R. D. James - Single Crystal Growth
Facility
Directors: T. W. Shield and R. D. James - Laboratory for Complex
Flows
Director: E. Longmire - Aerosystems Laboratory
Director: G. Balas - Turbulent Shear Flow
Laboratory
Director: Ivan Marusic - Turbulent Water Channel
and Flying PIV System
Directors: Ellen Longmire and Ivan Marusic - Computer Facilities
- Experimental Facilities
- National Center for
Hypersonics Research
Directors: Graham Candler and Krishnan Mahesh - Avionics
Director: Demoz Gebre-Egziabher
Akerman hall remodel 2007
Directory of Akerman Hall Labs and Other Facilities
Last Modified: 2007-12-06 at 11:14:04 -- this is in International Standard Date and Time Notation