VINOD KUMAR N

His main research interest is in the field of aero thermodynamic design of Turbo machines and testing. In specific have worked in the design and testing of propellers for micro air vehicles and Axial turbines for small gas turbine engines.

His major contributions include setting up of an experimental facility for testing the turbines at Propulsion division, NAL. High pressure turbine of one of the gas turbine engine was tested for its full speed at simulated conditions in the established test facility. Further focus is on testing of in-house designed turbines to validate their performance.

He has designed miniature propellers of different sizes and geometry for micro air vehicle application. His work also involves testing of designed propellers at low speed wind tunnel to predict their dynamic performance. He has studied the performance of propellers with different configuration using CFD tools. He has tested different commercial miniature propeller and BLDC motor combinations at low speed wind tunnel to identify the efficient combination for the MAV under consideration.

His other skills include designing of test sections for testing the turbines, alignment of high speed shafts using laser alignment tool, CFD studies on bigger props to improve their performance, etc.

Research Interest:

Axial gas turbine testing, Propeller aerodynamics, Micro air vehicles, Propeller Testing.