Ari Athair's Ph.D. Dissertation Defense
Ari Athair's PhD Dissertation Defense
Advancing Cross-Flow Turbine Design Through Intracycle Velocity Control and Parametric Changes in Rotor Geometry, Committee
Owen Williams (Chair), Brian Polagye, Michelle DiBenedetto, Justin Little, Jim Thompson (GSR)
Abstract
This dissertation investigates simple pathways to improve the performance of cross-flow turbines for underwater renewable energy generation. Due to complex cyclic hydrodynamics and coupled design parameters, turbine optimization remains challenging and requires experimental validation beyond empirical models and CFD. This work experimentally links turbine performance to blade-level hydrodynamics using two approaches: intracycle velocity control and geometric design modifications. Intracycle control demonstrated trade-offs between power enhancement and load reduction, while studies of blade camber, pitch, and chord-to-radius ratio revealed how geometry alters stall behavior, and flow curvature phenomena which shape turbine performance. Results show…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Online Meeting Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/91911037955?pwd=ali05jXsuDoDqkAV3PgIn7qcukNmzd.1. Campus room: A 420 Hogness Auditorium. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Jeff Wollschlager's General Exam
Jeff Wollschlager's General Exam
Multiscale Approach to the Design and Analysis of WEAV3D Lattice Structures, Committee
Marco Salviato (Chair), Ed Habtour, Charles Dorn, Navid Zobeiry, Chris Oberste
Abstract
WEAV3D lattice structures, called Rebar for Plastics ® (www.weav3D.com), are a unique solution for light-weighting composite structures. As these lattice structures find increased structural applications in all industries, the need for a robust and verified design and analysis methodology which applies to these types of heterogeneous anisotropic structures has become evident. Discretely modeling the lattice structures, while accurate, is computationally expensive and impractical for large-scale structures. Therefore, a multiscale modeling technique, where the lattice structures are homogenized into an equivalent anisotropic shell formulation, is proposed and derived. In addition, an experimental properties and validation test program has been developed to validate the proposed multiscale modeling…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Online Meeting Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/6781432964. Campus room: 211. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Winter Quarter Exams
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Friday, March 20, 2026.
Spring Break begins
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, March 21, 2026.
Spring Quarter begins
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Monday, March 30, 2026.
A&A Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: 211D. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, April 2, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
A&A Distinguished Speaker Seminar with MIT Professor Chuchu Fan
Details coming.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: 145. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, May 4, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
A&A Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: 211D. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, May 7, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
A&A Distinguished Speaker Seminar with UC Berkeley Professor Lining Yao
Details coming.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: 334. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, May 18, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Memorial Day Holiday
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Monday, May 25, 2026.
A&A Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: 211D. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, June 4, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
Spring Quarter Exams
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, June 6, 2026 – Friday, June 12, 2026.