Kate graduated with a MMath from the University of Bath in 2015 and has a strong interest in industrial maths. During a summer placement, she worked on a project looking at prediction techniques for tipping points in a stochastic model with two steady states. She also spent two summers working in Rolls-Royce which sparked her interest in the maths behind mechanic systems. Outside maths, she is part of a Latin and Ballroom dance club and enjoys watching films, rollerblading, and playing squash.

Research project title:
Modelling the surge phenomenon within turbomachinery

Supervisor(s):
Paul Milewski, Chris Brace, Colin Copeland, Chris Budd

Project description:
Turbochargers are used in internal combustion engines in order to get a better power output for smaller engines and to get better fuel efficiency. Turbochargers work by compressing air. In order to get the most out of a turbocharger the air before and after the compressor needs a high pressure ratio for a relatively low massflow. If the massflow is too low, the air flow can reverse direction and cause surge. Surge is a difficult  phenomenon to model because it exhibits chaotic behaviour. Kate worked jointly with the Mechanical Engineering department with the aim of finding a model that could (i) give a better prediction of the onset of surge and (ii) describe what happens to the air flow during surge. This involved analysis of experimental data as well as a combination of theory from compressible fluid dynamics, rotating flows, dynamical systems and bifurcations.