Combined experimental and adjoint-based sensitivity analysis in thermoacoustic systems

Matthew Juniper, University of Cambridge. Part of the applied mathematics fluids and MHD seminars series.

Thermoacoustic oscillations are a persistent problem in gas turbine and rocket engines. Adjoint-based sensitivity analysis of a thermoacoustic model shows, in a single calculation, how their growth rates and frequencies are affected by every parameter of the model. This information can be used in a gradient-based optimization process in order to design a stable system, but this relies on the model being accurate. This presentation will outline the adjoint approach in thermoacoustics and then show results from a series of automated experiments that, with tens of thousands of data-points, enable careful improvement of the model and therefore higher confidence in its predictions.

Matthew Juniper, University of Cambridge