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School of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Charles Merkle

Charles L. Merkle

2003 - Professor Emeritus, Reilly Professor of Engineering
Joint appointment with Mechanical Engineering

Degrees

B.S. Engineering Science, Case Institute of Technology
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Ph.D. Aerospace & Mechanical Sciences, Princeton University

Contact

701 W. Stadium Ave.
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045


Email: merkle@purdue.edu

Interests

Computational Fluid Dynamics and Mechanics
Two Phase Flows
Propulsion Components and Systems

Awards and Major Appointments

Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
CT Sun Research Award, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, 2009

Publications

Smith, R., Xia, G., Anderson, W.A., and Merkle, C.L. "Computational Simulations of the Effect of Back-Step Height on Non-Premixed Combustion Instability," accepted for publication, AIAA Journal, December 2008.

Tseng, C., Voytovych, D., Kulatilaka, W., Bhuiyan, A., Lucht, R., Merkle, C. Hulka, J., and Jones, G., "Structure and Mixing of a Transient Flow of Helium Injected into an Established Flow of Nitrogen," to appear, Experiments in Fluids, 2009.

Smith, R., Ellis, M., Xia, G., Sankaran, V., Anderson, W. and Merkle, C.L., "Computational Investigation of Acoustics and Instabilities in a Longitudinal Mode Rocket Combustor," AIAA Journal, Vol. 46, No. 11, November 2008.

Ebrahami, H.B., and Merkle, C.L., "Wave Reverberations in Multitube Pulse Detonation Engines," Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2008, pp. 345-352.

Xia, G., Li, D., and Merkle, C.L., "Consistent Properties Reconstruction on Adaptive Cartesian Meshes for Complex Fluids Computations," Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 225, No. 1, July 2007, pp. 1175-1197.

Xia, G., Li, D., and Merkle, C.L., "Effects of a Needle on Shrouded Hartmann-Sprenger Tube Flows," AIAA Journal, Vol. 45, No. 5, 2007, pp. 1028-1035.

Li, D., Keefer, D., Rhodes, R. Kolokolnikov, K., Merkle, C.L., Thibodeaux, R., "Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Power Generation," Journal of Propulsion and Power, Vol. 21, No. 3, March, 2005, pp 424-432.

Venkateswaran, S., Merkle, C.L., Zeng, X and Li, D., "Influence of Large-Scale Pressure Changes on Pre-Conditioned Solutions at Low Speeds," AIAA Journal, Vol. 42, No. 12, December 2004, pp. 2490-2498.

Conference Proceedings, Presentations, Invited Lectures

Voytovych, D., Merkle, C., "Numerical Study of Rotating Stall of a Modern Fan," AIAA-2009-926, 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Orlando, FL, Jan. 5-8, 2009.

Merkle, C., Lian, C., Xia, G., Voytovych, D., "Flowfield Initialization and Approach to Stationary Conditions in Unsteady Combustion Simulations," AIAA-2009-235, 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Orlando, FL, Jan. 5-8, 2009.

Xia, G., Smith, R., Anderson, W., Merkle, C., "Computational Simulations of the Effect of Chamber Diameter on Single-Element Rocket Combustor Instability," AIAA-2008-5250, 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Hartford, CT, July 21-23, 2008

Tucker, P., Menon, S., Merkle, C., Oefelein, J., Yang, V., "Validation of High-Fidelity CFD Simulations for Rocket Injector Design," AIAA-2008-5226, 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Hartford, CT, July 21-23, 2008

Voytovych, D., Merkle, C., Lucht, R., "Numerical Simulation of Mixing Between Established Gas Flow and Start-up Injected Gas Inside a Chamber," 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Hartford, CT, July 21-23, 2008

Rooney, D, Moeller, T., Keefer, D., Rhodes, R., Merkle, C., "Experimental and Computer Studies of a Pulsed Plasma Accelerator," AIAA-2007-5225, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Smith, R., Xia, G., Anderson, W., Merkle, C., and Sankaran, V., "Computational Modeling of Instabilities in a Single-Element Rocket Combustor using a Response Function," AIAA-2007-5564, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Voytovych, D., Merkle, C., Lucht, R., and Tseng, C., "Analysis of Transient Flow Mixing of Streams Injected into a Chamber with a Cavity," AIAA-2007-5566, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Kilchyk, V., Merkle, C., and Nalim, R., "Effect of Channel Rotation on Premixed Turbulent Combustion in a Wave Rotor Combustor," AIAA-2007-5053, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Li, D., Merkle, C., Scott, M., Keefer, D., Moeller, T, and Rhodes, R., "A Hyperbolic Algorithm for Numerical Solutions of Coupled Plama/EM Fields Including Both Real and Displacement Currents," AIAA-2007-5745, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Li, D., Corpening, J., Hrbud, I., and Merkle, C., "Computational Analysis of a Pulsed Inductive Thruster," AIAA-2007-5286, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Matsutomi, Y., Hein, C., Lian, C., Meyer, S., Merkle, C., and Heister, S., "Facility Development for Testing of Wave Rotor Combustion Rig," AIAA-2007-5052, AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Tucker, P., Menon, S., Merkle, C., Oefelein, J., and Yang V., "An Approach to Improved Credibility of CFD Calculations for Rocket Injector Design," AIAA-2007-5572, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Tseng, C., Kulatilaka, W., Robinson, G., Meyer, S., Merkle, C., and Lucht, R., "Laser Imaging of Transient Injection and Mixing in a Simulated Rocket Chamber," AIAA-2007-5589, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Heister, S., Anderson, W., Fleeter, S., Merkle, S., and Son. S., "Propulsion Educational and Research Programs at Purdue University," AIAA-2007-5149, 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Jung, H., Merkle, C., Schuff, R., and Anderson, W., "Detailed Flowfield Predictions of Heat Transfer to Supercritical Fluids in High Aspect Ratio Cooling Channels," AIAA-2007-5548, AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Schuff, R., Jung, H., Merkle, C., and Anderson, W., "Experimental Investigation of Asymmetric Heating in a High Aspect Ratio Cooling Channel with Supercritical Nitrogen," AIAA-2007-5546, AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, July 8-11, 2007.

Merkle, C.L., Li, D, and Sankaran, V., "Multi-Disciplinary Computational Analysis in Propulsion," AIAA-2006-4374, 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Sacramento, CA, July 10-12, 2006.

Voytovych, D.M., Merkle, C.L., Lucht, R..P., Hulka, J.R., and Jones, G.W., "Modeling of Transient Flow Mixing of Streams Injected into a Mixing Chamber," AIAA-2006-4531, 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Sacramento, CA, July 10-12, 2006.

Tseng, C.C., Kulatilaka, W.D., Robinson, G. A., Merkle, C.L., and Lucht, R..P., "Laser, Imaging of Transient Mixing in Simulated Rocket Chambers," AIAA-2006-4530, 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Sacramento, CA, July 10-12, 2006.

Wennerberg, J.C., Jung, H., Schuff, R., Anderson, W.E. and Merkle, C.L., "Study of Simulated Fuel Flows in High Aspect Ratio Cooling Channels," AIAA-2006-4708, 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Sacramento, CA, July 10-12, 2006.

Mekrle, C., Li, D., and Sankaran, V., "Multi-Disciplinary Computational Analysis in Propulsion," AIAA-2006-4575, 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Sacramento, CA, July 10-12, 2006.

Xia, G., Sankaran, V., Li, D., and Merkle, C.L., "Modeling of Turbulent Mixing Layer Dynamics in Ultra-High Pressure Flows," AIAA-2006-3729, 36th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit, San Francisco CA, June 5-8, 2006.

Laster, M.L., Jordan, J.L.., Merkle, C.L., and Zeng, X., "Remarks on the Design of Hypersonic High Reynolds Number Nozzles with Energy Addition," AIAA-2006-2957, 25th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference, San Francisco, CA, June 5-8, 2006.

Li, D., Zeng, X., Merkle, C.L., Felderman, E.J., and Sheeley, J.M., "Coupled Fluid-Dynamic Electromagnetic Modeling of Arc Heaters," AIAA-2006-3768, 36th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit, San Francisco, CA, June 5-8, 2006.

Xia, G., Li, D., and Merkle, C. L., "Cartesian Adaptive Properties Interpolation for Computations of Complex Fluids," AIAA 2006-1293, 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, Jan. 9-12, 2006.

Marshall, W., Pal, S., Woodward, R., Santoro, R.J., Smith, R., Xia, G., Sankaran, V., and Merkle, C.L., "Experimental and Computational Investigation of Combustor Acoustics and Instabilities, Part II: Transverse Modes," AIAA 2006-538, 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 9-12, January, 2006, Reno NV.

Smith, R., Nugent, N., Sisco, J., Xia, G., Anderson, W., Sankaran, V., and Merkle, C.L., "Experimental and Computational Investigation of Combustor Acoustics and Instabilities, Part I: Longitudinal Modes," AIAA 2006-537, 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 9-12, January, 2006, Reno NV.

Moeller, T., Keefer, D., Rhodes, R., Rooney, D., Li, D., and Merkle, C.L., "Comparison of Experimental and Computational Simulations Results of a Pulsed Plasma Accelerator," IEPC-2005-008, International Electric Propulsion Conference, Nov. 2005.

Merkle, C.L., "A Gibb’s Function Formulation for Computations of General and Multi-Phase Fluids," Proceedings of Twelfth National Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C., 19-21 August, 2005.

Wennerberg, J., Anderson, W.E., Heister, S. Meyer, S., Jung, H. and Merkle, C.L., "Supercritical Flows in High Aspect Ratio Cooling Channels," AIAA-2005-4302, 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Tucson, AZ, July 10-13, 2005.

Ellis, M., Xia, G., Sankaran, V., Anderson, W. and Merkle, C.L., "Acoustic Mode Simulations in Experimental Rocket Combustors," AIAA-2005-4300, 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Tucson, AZ, July 10-13, 2005.

Li, Ding; Xia, Guoping; Merkle, Charles L., "Large-Scale Multidisciplinary Computational Physics Simulations using Parallel Multi-physics Zone Methods," Proceedings of International Conference on Parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics, University of Maryland, MD, May 24-27, 2005.

Li, Ding; Xia, Guoping and Merkle, Charles L., "Parallel Multi-Zone Methods for Large-Scale Multidisciplinary Computational Physics Simulations," Proceedings of Linux Clusters: The HPC Revolution 2005 Conference, Chapel Hill, NC, April 26-28, 2005.

Xia, G., Li, D., and Merkle, C.L., "Modeling of Pulsed Detonation Tubes in Turbine Systems," AIAA 2005-0225, 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, January 10-13, 2005.

Li, D., Sankaran, V. Lindau, J.W., and Merkle, C.L., "Computational Formulation for Multi-Phase and Multi-Component Flows," AIAA 2005-1391 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Reno, NV, Jan. 10-13, 2005,

Lindau, J.W., Kunz, R.F. Venkateswaran S., Stinebring, D.R. "Homogeneous Multiphase CFD Modeling of Large Scale Cavities," European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering ECCOMAS 2004, Jyvaskyla, 2428, July 2004.

Sankaran, V., Xia, G., Ellis, M. and Merkle, C.L., "CFD Simulations of Acoustic Wave Phenomena in Combustion Chambers,"', 3rd International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, Toronto, Canada, July 12-16, 2004.

Li, D., Xia, G., Sankaran, V., "Computational Framework for Complex Fluids Applications,"' 3rd International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, Toronto, Canada, July 12-16, 2004.