• [2017-08-25]

  Prof. Vigor Yang, the US NAE member, visited LTCS

Prof. Vigor Yang visited the State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems (LTCS) and delivered an insightful lecture on space propulsion. Dr. Yang is the William R. T. Oakes Professor and the Chair of the School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and he is the member of the National Academy of Engineering of the United States.

Prof. Cunbiao Li hosted the lecture, and Profs. Yipeng Shi, Jianping Wang, Zheng Chen, Yue Yang, Yantao Yang and over 30 graduate students attended the lecture.

Prof. Cunbiao Li hosting the lecture

After a vivid introduction of the human exploration of space, Prof. Yang reviewed the development of the rocket engine in past decades, and described the critical scientific problems involved. Taking the F-1 engine as the concrete example, Prof. Yang demonstrated the importance of the combustion instability, nozzle design and design cost control of the engine. Regarding to the future development and challenges of space exploration, Prof. Yang shared his new thinking and outlook. He focused on how to design a new-generation engine within a limited time and cost. In the 21st century, the engine design requires innovative design methodology and concept. Taking the RD170 engine for example, Prof. Yang elaborated three critical ingredients of the new-generation engine design: data, physics, and statistics.

In addition, Prof. Yang briefly introduced the challenges of deep space exploration including the excessive long flight time and limited load. Finally, Prof. Yang concluded that advanced combustion and propulsion technology are required to improve the efficiency of the thermal cycle and reduce pollution for designing new generation engines. He encouraged young students to “focus on the future”. 

After the lecture, LTCS faculty and students had a stimulating discussion with Prof. Yang.

Prof. Jianping Wang discussing with Prof. Vigor Yang

Student asking questions