Vibration management in structures with mode degeneracy - enhancing the life of industrial Charge Air Coolers

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The project is inspired by reducing vibration in charge air coolers -- a class of heat exchangers, such as those used in locomotive applications, and thus enhancing the life of the equipment. A feature of this class of structures is that there are mathematical difficulties due to several identical parts such as cooling tubes that are coupled together via fins or end plates. This makes the problem of vibration prediction and management extremely challenging. A combination of theoretical, computational and experimental techniques will be used to understand the unique vibration behaviour of such structures (in the technical literature this is known as "structures with mode degeneracy") and offer solutions to manage vibration levels. The candidate will make finite element models of this class of heat exchanger structures to understand the vibration behaviour as induced by engines. They will also make measurements by mechanically exciting the structure using an instrumented hammer of a shaker and carry out analysis of the digital data with an aim of vibration monitoring and suppression. Finally they will reconcile the structural vibration measurements with computational and theoretical predictions.