TITLE:

Optimal actuator and sensor placement for feedback flow control

DATE:

Friday, September 23rd, 2016

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS 314

SPEAKER:

Dr. Kevin K. Chen. Research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses’ Center for Communications Research in La Jolla.

ABSTRACT:

Feedback control has an enormous potential to manipulate fluid flows in desirable ways, and may one day increase vehicle performance and efficiency

significantly. One fundamental question has remained unanswered, however: where should the feedback system’s actuators and sensors be located in the

flow? The state of the art is shockingly insufficient; the vast majority of studies use trial and error, or otherwise flawed heuristics. In this

seminar, we explore why some actuator and sensor placements are more effective than others. Specifically, we examine the optimal control of the

Ginzburg-Landau and Orr-Sommerfeld/Squire equations, using localized actuators and sensors. We implement a novel algorithm that efficiently iterates

toward optimal placements in these fluid flow models. The control theoretical and physical interpretations of the optimal placements yield a set of

heuristics that can help engineers predict effective actuator and sensor placements.

HOST:

Dr. Guus Jacobs

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