The partnership between the TUB and the DLR has a long history. The Division for Engine Acoustics (former know as Division for Turbulence Research) of the DLR-Institute of Propulsion Technology was founded in 1956 and since then located on the campus of the TUB. The section, headed by Dr. Lars Enghardt, has at present 23 employees and cooperates closely with the "Institut für Strömungsmechanik und Technische Akustik" (ISTA), sharing office and laboratory space and research facilities. The ISTA has at present 87 employees and is headed by Professor Möser.
The research activities of the Division for Engine Acoustics cover aeroacoustics of turbomachines, combustion chambers, flow ducts and jets. The division is involved in sound source localisation, in control of secondary flows in turbomachines, in the investigation of turbulence structures in combustors and in the development and application of optical diagnostics. More than 50% of the overall budget is obtained from third-party-funding. In 1998, the division was awarded the Phillip-Morris Price for the development of artificial shark skin for friction reduction.
The "Institut für Strömungsmechanik und Technische Akustik" belongs to the faculty V for mechanical engineering of TUB and covers the topics of numerical aeroacoustics, numerical flow simulations, turbulent shear layers, experimental aerodynamics and combustion research. The institute is operating two large and several small wind tunnels and is well known for its studies of unsteady flow phenomena.
The scientific cooperation between ISTA and DLR-Berlin is best characterized by the joint involvement in several European and national research projects, especially in the Collaborative Research Project “Control of complex turbulent shear flows” of the German Science Foundation (DFG, SFB 557) and in the DFG-Research Group on “Combustion Noise”. This strong involvement in DFG-projects is quite untypical of DLR institutions and is only possible because of the close cooperation with a university institute. The vicinity to TUB is also beneficial for recruiting students and post graduates.
To keep such a good relationship vital, constant efforts are necessary to add new momentum to the partnership. The establishment of a Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group in July 2004 is such a positive impulse as it contributes in a very innovative and constructive manner. The group adds the important topic of optical measuring techniques to the portfolio of the ISTA and is a link between the activities of DLR and TUB in the field of energy and transportation.
In particular the group cooperates with Professor Paschereit, who has recently taken on the Chair of the Experimental Fluid Mechanics Department at the "Institut für Strömungsmechanik und Technische Akustik". This Department emphasizes on combustion chamber oscillations, which is a research goal of DLR and the Helmholtz Association as well. The measurement techniques targeted by the Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group supports Professor Paschereits experiments. Close collaboration between Professor Paschereit and the combustion research branch of the DLR-Institute of Propulsion Technology in Cologne is planned and put on a sound long-term the Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group.
In conclusion, DLR and TUB provide ideal conditions and outstanding potential for successfully fulfilling the mission imposed for a Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Groups.