Radulescu Gasdynamics Laboratory

Kadeem Dennis has defended his thesis on the mechanism of cellular damage by shock waves, titled " Mechanical Modification of Cells by Pressure Waves and its Application to Traumatic Brain Injury ". The preliminary study addresses the mechanism by which shock waves damage cells and may lead to traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fibroblasts (3T3) cell cultures were exposed to pressure waves produced by reacting thermite powder in water with different pressure amplitudes, ranging from 0.04 to 1.4 MPa peak pressures. Fluorescent images of the cells before and after pressure wave exposure were used to determine the type of damage suffered by the cells and whether the cells have died.   Immediately after the exposure to the pressure waves, the cells were found to have their actin filament de-polymerized for all pressure waves tested. If allowed to recover for 60 minutes the 3T3 cells were found to have their actin re-polymerized. While the link ...

Yesterday, Brian Maxwell succesfully defended his PhD thesis, making him my first PhD student. His thesis titled " Turbulent Combustion Modelling of Fast-Flames and Detonations using Compressible LEM-LES " was very well received by his examiners.   Brian is on his way to the University of Victoria for a NSERC PDF postdoc. Congratulations Brian!  I'm very proud. Thesis abstract A novel approach to modelling highly compressible and reactive flows is formulated to provide high resolution closure of turbulent-scale reaction rates in the presence of very rapid transients in pressure and energy. For such flows, treatment of turbulent microscales are generally unattainable through traditional modelling techniques. To address this, the modelling strategy developed here is based on the Linear Eddy Model for Large Eddy Simulation (LEM-LES); a technique which has only previously been applied to weakly compressible flows. In the current formulation of the Compressible LE...