Participating institutes

The Institute for Turbomachinery and Fluid Dynamics (TFD) has a long tradition in the research fields of thermal turbomachinery and classical fluid mechanics. By acquiring and working on additional research fields, the knowledge gained and methods developed are transferred and synergies are exploited. Currently, the TFD is working on both publicly funded research projects and projects financed solely by industry in the fields of

• Axial machines,
• Radial machines,
• Aeroacoustics and aeroelastics,
• Numerical methods,
• Renewable energy systems, and
• Fluid mechanics

are being researched. Multidisciplinary issues are becoming increasingly important in scientific research, particularly in the development and optimization of highly complex systems such as aircraft engines and gas turbines. At the TFD, therefore, the unsteady interactions in turbomachinery are increasingly being investigated experimentally and numerically. Close cooperation with national and international research institutions and industrial partners ensures that the work is always oriented toward current, practice-relevant issues.

The TFD has extensive experimental test facilities and various numerical methods and software solutions for design and simulation at its disposal for carrying out the projects. With its own workshops, the TFD also has relevant experience in the development and manufacture of test vehicles, measurement technology/sensor technology, and the instrumentation of test benches.

The Institute for Drive Systems and Power Electronics (IAL) conducts research across the entire field of electric drive technology, from the microwatt to the multi-megawatt range. Thanks to close cooperation between two full professorships, the institute's expertise spans the fields of electric machines, power electronics, and drive control.

The research area of electric machines includes the development of time-efficient calculation methods and programs that can be used to design different types of machines and determine electromagnetic and mechanical effects in drive systems. Another focus is on researching, predicting, and preventing parasitic phenomena caused by harmonics and air gap surface fields, which can cause torque pulsations, magnetically excited noises, and bearing currents.

Expertise in the field of power electronics ranges from the characterization of power semiconductors and the development of innovative control concepts to the development, dimensioning, and optimization of power electronic circuits and the associated control and modulation methods, right through to the control of electric drives.

The Institute for Electric Power Systems (IFES) is divided into the Electrical Energy Supply department, the High Voltage Technology and Asset Management department, and the Electrical Energy Storage Systems department, whose websites can be accessed via the following links:

• Electrical Energy Supply
• High Voltage Engineering and Asset Management – Schering Institute
• Electrical Energy Storage Systems

The Institute for Dynamics and Vibration Research (IDS) deals with issues relating to the application areas of piezo and ultrasonic technology, contact mechanics, and elastomer friction, as well as topics in the field of nonlinear structural mechanics and the dynamics of rotating machines. The focus in the latter research area is primarily on the numerical and experimental investigation of the structural dynamics and aeroelasticity of turbine and compressor blades. The IDS has over 25 years of experience in this field, which has been built up through numerous publicly or industrially funded projects. The core topics covered include

• Nonlinearly coupled blade arrangements
• Friction damping
• Contacts with clearance and separation
• Damping prediction and optimization
• Reduction methods and mistuning (detuned systems)
• Time/frequency domain solutions (including multiharmonic balance)
• Stationary and transient (transient) running blade vibrations
• Optimization and robust design of nonlinearly coupled systems
• Innovative damping concepts such as eddy current or piezo damping
• Experimental investigations in stationary tests and in rotating systems
• Consistent theoretical-numerical-experimental approaches
• Development of numerical methods and industry-ready simulation software

In addition to stationary processes, transient phenomena and the requirement for mechanical integrity under partial load and in different operating scenarios are also becoming increasingly important in the field of structural mechanics. The resulting novel questions and the need to develop improved calculation methods are being addressed in projects by the German Research Association for Internal Combustion Engines (FVV, project “Transient Blade Dynamics I/II”) and the TURBO working group (future joint project “ECOFlex-turbo”), among others.