Contact
Office
(434) 243-3265
Location
Mechanical & Aerospace Building, Rm 333
122 Engineer's Way, Rm. 333
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Harsha K. Chelliah

Professor
Contact
Office
(434) 243-3265
Location
Mechanical & Aerospace Building, Rm 333
122 Engineer's Way, Rm. 333
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Google Scholar Reacting Flow Lab

About

Professor Chelliah joined the University of Virginia in the Fall of 1992. He received his B.Sc. degree (First-Class Honors) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka in January 1981, MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from SUNY at Stony Brook in August 1984, and Ph.D. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in January 1989. After completion of his Ph.D., he continued his research work at Princeton University as a Research Associate/Staff Member from 1988-1992.

Professor Chelliah is an active member of the Combustion Institute, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is a Fellow of ASME, an Associate Fellow of AIAA and a member of the AIAA Technical Committee on Propellants and Combustion. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Combustion Theory and Modelling.

Education

B.S. ​Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka, 1981

M.S. ​Mechanical Engineering, SUNY at Stony Brook, 1984

Ph.D. ​Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, 1989

Research Interests

Fluid Mechanics
Chemical kinetics and model reduction
Combustion
Hypersonic propulsion
Soot nucleation, growth, and oxidation
Chemical vapor infiltration of SiC

Selected Publications

Sooting Limits of Non-premixed Counterflow Ethylene/Oxygen/Inert Flames using LII: Effects of Flow Strain Rate and Pressure (up to 30 atm), Combustion And Flame, 195 (2018), Pp. 267-281. B.G. Sarnacki, H.K. Chelliah
Abstract
On the Axisymmetric Counterflow Flame Simulations: Is there an Optimal Nozzle Diameter and Separation Distance to Apply Quasi One-Dimensional Theory?, Combustion Science and Technology, 187 (2015), Pp. 37-59. R.F. Johnson, A.C. Vandine, G. Esposito, H.K. Chelliah
Skeletal reaction models based on principal component analysis: Application to ethylene–air ignition, propagation, and extinction phenomena, Combustion and Flame 158 (2011), Pp. 477–489. G. Esposito, H.K. Chelliah
Self-sustained Acoustic-Wave Interactions with Counterflow Flames, J. Fluid Mechanics, 560 (2006), Pp. 249-278. A.C. Zambon, H.K. Chelliah
Dynamics of Water Droplets in a Counterflow Field and Their Effect on Flame Extinction, Combustion and Flame, 115 (1998), Pp.158-179. A.M. Lentati, H.K. Chelliah
An experimental and theoretical investigation of the dilution, pressure and flow-field effects on the extinction condition of methane-air-nitrogen diffusion flames. Symposium (International) on Combustion, Elsevier. 1991. Proc. Combust. Inst., 23 (1991), Pp. 503-511. H.K. Chelliah, C.K. Law, T. Ueda, M.D. Smooke, F.A. Williams

Courses Taught

Thermodynamics
Thermal System Analysis
Rocket Propulsion
Thermo-mechanics
Non-equilibrium dynamics
Combustion

Awards

Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2018
Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow at Downing College, Cambridge, UK 2016
Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse College, Cambridge, UK 2015
Associate Fellow of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2004

Featured Grants & Projects

AFOSR-NSF Understanding flow compressibility and heat release effects on turbulent combustion and assessment of subgrid scale models.
Rolls Royce Soot formation and oxidation in gas turbine engine conditions using a high-pressure counterflow flame reactor and tubular flow reactor.
Rolls Royce Understanding the coupling mechanisms between finite-rate chemistry and transport of silicon carbide synthesis and infiltration processes in a tubular flow reactor.