PACE Projects


Fundamental Turbulent
Combustion Studies

We assess some fundamental assumptions in the theory of turbulent combustion by recording high-framing rate movies that show...

  • Duration: 3 Days
  • Level: Basic

Hypersonic Vehicle Engine / Trajectory Optimization

A control-oriented model of hypersonic vehicles was developed for AFRL for an X-43 aerospace plane geometry. It predicts operability limits...

  • Duration: 3 Days
  • Level: Basic

Gas Turbine Combustors: Flame Holding, Acoustic Instabilities

Two model gas turbine combustors are studied; one has a single GE TAPS Jet-A liquid fuel injector while the other has a single...

  • Duration: 3 Days
  • Level: Basic

Shock Wave-Boundary Layer Interactions

In our Mach 2.75 supersonic wind tunnel we interact oblique shock waves with the bottom wall and sidewall boundary layers to study the...

  • Duration: 3 Days
  • Level: Basic




PACE Facilities


Turbulent Combustion Laboratory

This laboratory conducts research into fundamental aspects of turbulent combustion.

Gas Turbine Combustion Laboratory

This lab houses the model gas turbine combustor with a GE TAPS injector...

Michigan Supersonic Combustion Laboratory

The Michigan Supersonic Combustion Lab consists of a blow-down type wind tunnel...

François-Xavier Bagnoud Building
Department of Aerospace Engineering


100 Years of Michigan Aerospace

Our Focus

The Propulsion and Combustion Engineering Laboratory consists of Professor James F. Driscoll and his graduate students in the department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Research in the group focuses on employing advanced diagnostics to study both the fundamentals of turbulent combustion and its application to propulsion systems. Particle image velocimetry (PIV), planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF), laser velocimetry, schlieren, and shadowgraph techniques are some of the more common diagnostic tools used in the lab for flow visualization. For more information on our current work, please see the Projects and Facilities pages.

Back to top