Power Plant Mechanical Engineering

Pravin Kumar

Email: *******@******.***.*** **** Nicholson Dr, Apt. 2095

Phone: 225-***-**** Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802

Summary

Seeking full time position related to aerodynamics applications, computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

and numerical modelling.

Over 4 years of industrial experience in CFD with an additional background in thermal engineering.

Education

MS, Mechanical Engineering 2013 – (Expected – Dec, 2014) 3.57/4

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.

B.Tech, Aerospace Engineering 2005 – 2009 6.4/10

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

Graduate Research Assistant, Louisiana State University (Jan 2013 – Ongoing)

Thermal Protection System

Developed a finite difference code for heat transfer simulations in a porous media.

Studied effects of Knudsen number, pore size and periodic boundary conditions of thermal

protection system for Venus Exploration Mission.

CFD Engineer, SENER, Madrid (July 2009 – Oct 2012)

Re-Entry Black Box

Developed a code for computation of aerodynamic forces, moments, trajectory and heat loads on

the probe during hypersonic atmospheric re-entry.

Optimized thickness of an ablative type thermal protection system to ensure safety of the probe.

Studied flight stability of the probe with two time scale perturbation method.

Wankel Engine

Developed user defined functions for moving mesh and chamber leakage of Wankel engine.

Studied effects of radius, eccentricity and RPM on compression ratio and efficiency.

Optimized the location of spark plug and fuel injector with non-premixed combustion model using

ANSYS FLUENT.

Renewable Energy

Performed multiphase hydrodynamic simulations of various renewable energy technologies; Oyster,

OWC, Hidroflot, Pelamis for electricity production from ocean waves.

Computed added mass and damping coefficient for a range of frequencies and amplitudes.

Aeroacoustic Analysis

Performed benchmark simulations of rod-airfoil configuration to capture noise sources (diploes and

quadrupoles) with LES, RANS and DES schemes using ‘Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings’ acoustic

model of ANSYS FLUENT.

Tested the capabilities of various commercial CFD and CAA tools: FLUENT, CFD++ and

OpenFoam with similar benchmark simulations to reduce computation cost.

Summer Internship, SENER, Madrid (May 2008 – July 2008)

Cold Gas Propulsion System

Developed a code for simulation of cold gas propulsion sub system for satellite applications.

Computed flow parameters: pressure, temperature, velocity and speed of sound inside flow circuit

consisting high pressure tank, pipe, elbow, t-joint, valve and high speed nozzle.

Academic Projects

Validation of Cold Gas Propulsion System

Optimized numerical solution scheme for robust solution with high accuracy.

Studied effects of real gas and ideal gas assumptions on flow parameters.

Validated numerical results obtained with a shock tube experiment.

Flow Around a Straked Cylinder

Computed aerodynamic forces on a cylinder with helical strakes using ANSYS FLUENT.

Studied effects of pitch, thickness, length & height of helical strakes.

Heat Transfer Analysis

Developed a code for unsteady heat transfer to study thermal runaway of a nuclear power plant.

Developed a code for unsteady heat transfer of turbulent flow in pipe with multiple thermal

boundary conditions.

Technical Skills

Matlab, Java, C, C++, Fortran, Mathematica, MS Excel

Programming

Computational Tools ANSYS, FLUENT, ICEM, CFD++, OpenFoam, TecPlot,

SigmaPlot, ParaView

Languages English, Spanish, Hindi

Scholastic Achievements

Received ‘NASA and the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium’ scholarship for the research related to

future Venus exploration missions of NASA JPL.

Received best project award for designing a high performance tailless remote controlled aircraft as a

part of an academic project at IIT Kanpur.

Received first prize at national level glider completion ‘Airborne’, 2007 at IIT Bombay.

Extracurricular Activities

Significantly improved participation in aero modelling club at IIT Kanpur as a co-ordinator, 2008-

2009.

Represented aero modelling club at national level glider competition by securing 1 st position at IIT

Bombay, 2007.

Successfully organized first ever remote controlled flying competition ‘Turbulence’ as a Co-ordinator

of the national level technology festival ‘Techkriti’ 2008 at IIT Kanpur.

Publications

Pravin Kumar and Michael J. Martin, “Unsteady Simulation of One Dimensional Heat Transfer in

Porous Media with a Temperature Jump Condition”, AIAA, Aerospace Science Meeting, 2014.

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