All Models are Uncertain

Abstract

In the last four decades, computer simulation tools have achieved widespread use in the design and analysis of engineering devices, leading to a reduction of physical prototyping and lower costs. In spite of this considerable success, it remains difficult to provide objective confidence levels in quantitative information obtained from numerical predictions. The complexity arises from the number of uncertainties related to the inputs of any computation attempting to represent a physical system. Rigorous quantification of the uncertainties introduced in numerical simulations is required to establish objectively their predictive capabilities. The speaker will describe different strategies used to quantify uncertainties in applications related to aerospace propulsion. Specifically, he will present probabilistic simulations aiming at fluid and thermal characterization of turbo machinery and combustion systems in turbojet and scramjet systems.

About the Speaker

Prof. Gianluca IACCARINO obtained his MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Naples Federico II in 1993 and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Bari in 2005. He has worked for several years at the Center for Turbulence Research (jointly operated by Stanford University and NASA) before joining the faculty at Stanford University in 2007. Since 2014 and 2018, he has been the Director of the Exascale Computing Engineering Center and of the Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering respectively. He is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford.

Prof. Iaccarino’s research themes include numerical methods for fluid mechanics, physical models for laminar/turbulent flows, and uncertainty quantification in computational science. He is in the editorial board of International Journal for Uncertainty Quantification, Computers & Fluids, Journal of Computational Physics, and Flow, Turbulence & Combustion.

Prof. Iaccarino received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the US White House and Department of Energy in 2010. He also received Best Paper Awards from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2017. He was named Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2010. In 2019, he was elected the Fellow of the American Physical Society.

For Attendees' Attention

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