PERC focuses on comprehensive energetic materials research spanning from molecules to munitions. Daniel Guildenbecher, associate professor of mechanical engineering, studies the behavior and evolution of energetic particles as they move and collide with each other. Understanding how these particles form, transport and react helps scientists to improve jet engine and rocket fuels as well as tailor energy release for explosives used in mining, manufacturing and military applications.
“Guildenbecher’s reputation as an authority on multiphase optical diagnostics is sterling,” said Stephen Beaudoin, professor of chemical engineering and director of PERC. “We are delighted to welcome him to the PERC team and are excited by where his unique capabilities will lead us.”
Using techniques such as digital holography and imaging pyrometry, Guildenbecher captures three-dimensional images of highly reactive particles and measures their characteristics such as size, velocity and temperature distribution as they are in motion.
“Guildenbecher is an expert in several advanced diagnostics that are devoted to characterizing multiphase flows,” said Christopher Goldenstein, associate professor of mechanical engineering and longtime collaborator with Guildenbecher. “Using these tools, he is able to extract amazing information about how particles evolve in reacting and high-velocity flows that are extremely difficult to study experimentally.”
The three-dimensional measurement techniques Guildenbecher employs are highly relevant for energetic environments where optical access is extremely difficult and limited.
“When you’re trying to take measurements in these extreme environments, you are typically limited to one viewpoint, so you try to maximize the amount of useful data that you can get from that one view,” Guildenbecher said. “What differentiates my research is the ability to characterize an entire particle field in a three-dimensional space using a single high-speed camera.”
Guildenbecher began his career with energetic materials at Sandia National Laboratories, where he worked for 12 years before joining the faculty at Purdue. At Sandia, Guildenbecher succeeded in developing new, innovative science to advance their energetics capabilities. During his last years at Sandia, he led a large, collaborative project with several universities, including Purdue. Those experiences helped him realize that he particularly enjoyed working with students and introducing them to the field.
“The opportunity came up to be able to make this move to academia, and I was excited to do it because I really wanted to work with students while also continuing to impact the national security space,” Guildenbecher said. “Since defense research is such a strength at Purdue, it just felt like the perfect fit. So working with students on a more daily basis was the drive or the pull — the why — of transitioning to academia.”
His experience working in a national lab brings a variety of benefits to the university. In this space, he gained experience forming and leading teams that developed measurement capabilities and new insights to directly impact real-world national defense challenges.
“Dan’s experience at Sandia is extremely valuable because it taught him about the national security missions for which energetic materials research is critical,” Goldenstein said. “Additionally, it helped him to hone his leadership and team-building skills, particularly for research problems.”
Prior to his time at Sandia, Guildenbecher earned a PhD in mechanical engineering at Purdue and held several visiting professorships where his work concentrated on measuring particles during the processes of spray atomization, breaking up a liquid into fine droplets to create a spray or mist.
When Guildenbecher arrived at Sandia, he had to figure out how his expertise in measuring particles translated to fit the national lab’s needs. That led him to energetic materials.
Guildenbecher started with measuring particles in high-speed flows and developing diagnostics useful for those conditions. Once he developed those capabilities, he began working with moderate speed propellants and then moved on to more powerful energetic materials.
“A lot of people who end up at a national lab evolve their undergraduate or graduate research into a different — but related — area of expertise with a defense application,” Guildenbecher said. “I didn’t expect to be in energetics when I got my PhD, but the field has a lot of interesting challenges to explore, so I felt it was good fit for me to expand my skill set.”
As a faculty member, Guildenbecher has continued to collaborate with Sandia. His first project at Purdue, which examines the dispersal of particles in a blast environment, is sponsored by the Sandia Academic Alliance Laboratory Directed Research and Development program.
Rees Verleur, a mechanical engineering PhD student working with Guildenbecher, has benefited from his relationship with Sandia.
“Guildenbecher has used his own connections to help with my research such as asking for advice from other researchers or accessing unpublished data,” Verleur said. “I think that as I continue to work with him, I will inevitably develop connections with these scientists since much of my research is closely related to Sandia’s priorities.”
Guildenbecher leverages his background to also build partnerships with other national labs and Department of Defense labs that focus on munitions and propellants, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
In the future, Guildenbecher hopes to expand beyond the national security space and apply his expertise in particle characterization to other areas, such as pharmaceuticals and industrial processing for which Purdue provides world-leading research.
“That’s another reason why I came to academia,” Guildenbecher said. “I can continue impacting national security, but I also have the freedom to explore elsewhere.”
About Purdue University
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Media contact: Lindsey Macdonald, macdonl@purdue.edu
