E: wam3@le.ac.uk

T: +44 (0) 116 252 2538

Location: Michael Atiyah 133

Biography

Andrew obtained a Masters Degree in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Leicester, and a PhD in Large Eddy Simulation (LES) from the Department of Engineering of the same institution.  He worked at the Aircraft Research Association in Bedford, in the areas of mesh generation and full aircraft simulation.    He subsequently joined the Rolls-Royce UTC at Loughborough University in 2007.  During his tenure in the Department of Aeronautical & Automotive Engineering, his research focused on the LES of high subsonic turbulent jets for the purposes of noise prediction, and the development and application of LES to axial compressor flows.  

Research Interests

Andrew’s research interests are in the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics and structure in turbulent flows.  His research focuses on the development and application of LES to fundamental flow problems, and its application to flows of practical engineering interest.   These flow types include both free shear flows, which are important in practical combustion systems, and wall-bounded flows – particularly flows in turbomachinery. 

Current research on free shear flows centres on investigating the nature of coherent structures in plane turbulent mixing layers.  This research is performed in collaboration with Dr Chris Coats and Dr Shian Gao.  Simulations of both uniform and variable density mixing layers are being performed, and the turbulence structure is investigated through the use of numerical flow visualisation.  Numerical simulation permits access to flow data that is difficult to obtain experimentally, and the topology of the structures can be studied in detail to a high level of accuracy.  Further research is being performed in the area of reacting shear flows with, p.d.f. transport models for subgrid-scale mixing being investigated for both isothermal and exothermic reactions. 

Andrew’s research on wall-bounded flows has an emphasis on the generation of streamwise vorticity on turbomachinery blade surfaces.    His research at Loughborough University has elucidated a mechanism for the generation of streamwise vorticity around the leading edge of blades, and shown that the imposition of realistic boundary conditions is of vital importance for accurate LES of turbomachinery flows.  Further work in this area will expand on the modelling of inlet turbulence for the simulation of realistic compressor and turbine flows.

Recent Publications

• "Towards Large Eddy Simulations of Gas Turbine Compressors." - W.A. McMullan, G.J. Page, Journal of Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 2012.  doi:10.1016/j.paerosci.2011.12.002
• “Loss Coefficient Estimation in a Controlled Diffusion Cascade Using Large Eddy Simulation.” – W. A. McMullan, G. J. Page, Proceedings of IMechE Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, Vol. 25, pp. 817-831, 2011.  doi 10.1177/0957650911409318
• “Large Eddy Simulation of a Controlled Diffusion Cascade blade.”  W.A. McMullan, G.J. Page, Flow Turbulence and Combustion, Vol. 86, No. 2, pp 207-230, 2011. 10.1007/s10494-010-9314-z
• “Using Large Eddy Simulation within an Acoustic Analogy Approach for Jet Noise Modelling.”  S. Karabasov, M. Afsar, T. Hynes, and A. Dowling, W. A. McMullan, C. D. Pokora, G. J. Page, and J. J. McGuirk, AIAA Journal, Vol. 48, No. 7, pp 1312-1325, 2010.
• “The effect of inflow conditions on the transition to turbulence in Large Eddy Simulations of spatially-developing mixing layers.” W. A. McMullan, S. Gao, C. M. Coats – International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Vol. 30, pp 1054-1066, 2009, 10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2009.07.005
• “A comparative study of inflow conditions for two- and three-dimensional spatially developing mixing layers using Large Eddy Simulation.” W. A. McMullan, S. Gao, C. M. Coats – International Journal of Numerical Methods in Fluids, Vol. 55, No.6, pp589 – 610, 2007, 10.1002/fld.1482.

Conference Papers

• "The influence of streamwise vorticity on transition in the presence of sweep." J.P. Gostelow, W.A. McMullan, S.J. Garrett, M. de Saint Jean, 2011 AIAA Fluid Dynamics Exhibit, Hawaii, USA, AIAA 2011-3878.
• "Analysis of the variable density mixing layer using Large Eddy Simulation." W.A. McMullan, S. Gao, C.M. Coats, 2011 AIAA Fluid Dynamics Exhibit, Hawaii, USA, AIAA 2011-3424.
• "The role of streamwise vorticity in laminar separation and transition over blade surfaces." J.P. Gostelow, W.A. McMullan, G.J. Walker, A. Mahallati, ASME Turbo Expo 2011, Vancouver, Canada, ASME GT2011-45075
• "Streamwise vorticity, laminar separation and transition in flows over turbomachinery blades." J.P. Gostelow, W.A. McMullan, G.J. Walker, 49th AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting, Orlando, FL, AIAA 2011-0285.
• “Loss Coefficient Estimation in a Controlled Diffusion Cascade Using Large Eddy Simulation.” W. A. McMullan, G. J. Page, 48^th AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting, Orlando, FL, AIAA 2010-315.
• “Investigation of Coherent Structures in Turbulent Mixing Layers using Large Eddy Simulation.” W. A. McMullan, S. Gao and C. M. Coats, 48^th AIAA Aerospace Science Meeting, Orlando, FL, AIAA 2010-1291.
• “Large Eddy Simulation of a Controlled Diffusion Cascade Blade at Varying Inflow Angles.” W. A. McMullan, G. J. Page, ASME Turbo Expo 2009, Orlando, FL, ASME GT2009-59668.
• “Using Large Eddy Simulation within an Acoustic Analogy Approach for Jet Noise Modelling.” S. Karabasov, M. Afsar, T. Hynes, and A. Dowling, W. A. McMullan, C. D. Pokora, G. J. Page, and J. J. McGuirk, 14^th AIAA/CAES Aeroacoustics Conference, Vancouver, AIAA 2008-2985. 
• “Large Eddy Simulation of a High Reynolds Number Subsonic Turbulent Jet for Acoustic Source Capture.” W. A. McMullan, C. D. Pokora, G. J. Page and J. J. McGuirk, 14^th AIAA/CAES Aeroacoustics Conference, Vancouver, AIAA 2008-2974.