GIST Student Jo Suhoon Wins Gold at National University Student Fluid Engineering Competition

(From left) Jiseop Lim, Youngmin Park, Suhoon Jo, Yeji Yoon, Seoyeon Heo, students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at GIST. Photo by GIST

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology President Kim Ki-seon) announced on the 30th that mechanical engineering student Jo Su-hoon recently won the gold prize at the '13th National University Student Fluid Engineering Competition.'

The paper presented by Jo Su-hoon, titled "Subcritical Re Regime Large Vortex Analysis of Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow Around a Cylinder," is a pioneering study on turbulent flow of non-Newtonian fluids, covering highly challenging topics in turbulence and non-Newtonian fluid fields that are not included in undergraduate curricula.

Non-Newtonian fluids are fluids whose viscosity changes due to flow, and they are closely related to various compound liquids handled in mechanical, chemical, and materials processes.

A notable result of this study is that the turbulent transition of separated flow significantly changes due to the viscosity characteristics of non-Newtonian fluids.

Shear-thinning fluids, whose viscosity decreases, experience reduced viscosity due to the shear stress rate of the separated flow, resulting in imperfect flow and rapid transition to turbulence. Conversely, shear-thickening fluids exhibit increased viscosity, causing delayed transition.

Professor Ji Sol-geun, the supervising professor, emphasized the importance of the research, stating, "Among the characteristics of non-Newtonian fluids, the behavior of non-Newtonian fluids under turbulent flow conditions is hardly known. The advanced research conducted by Jo Su-hoon can ultimately contribute to optimizing process structures and process flow conditions."

Jo Su-hoon said, "Numerical analysis of turbulent flow is a very difficult field for university students to research, but I think I received good evaluations from the judges by successfully carrying it out. Since it was a challenging topic, there were tough moments, but thankfully, I was able to overcome them with much help from my supervising professor and lab colleagues."

Meanwhile, the National University Student Fluid Engineering Competition is hosted by the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and is held to elucidate principles of fluid phenomena and for creative and engineering design, analysis, and design purposes. This year, it was held on the 5th at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju Metropolitan City.