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Riccardo Bonazza

Riccardo Bonazza

Associate Chair of Engineering Mechanic
Professor

Professor Bonazza’s interests are in the experimental investigation of impulsive, unsteady fluid flows such as shock-interface interactions, shock-driven mixing, and shock-initiated combustion.

The interaction of a shock wave with the interface between two fluids of different densities enhances the mixing that takes place at the interface. In some cases the mixing is detrimental to the objectives pursued in the application. For example, in inertial-confinement nuclear fusion experiments, a spherical, hollow shell containing a deuterium-tritium mixture is imploded by a shock wave generated by 192 laser beams focused on it. The objective is to raise the temperature and density of the nuclear fuel to obtain a self-sustained fusion process. Upon acceleration, the ablated shell material mixes with the fuel, either preventing ignition or causing a lower yield than thoretically predicted. On the other hand, in supersonic combustion systems, where fast, thorough mixing between fuel and oxidizer is indispensable to effective burning because of the very short residence time of the oxidizer in the combustion chamber, shock-enhanced mixing could be used advantageously.

Investigations are performed in a large, vertical shock tue facility. In one experiment, a shear layer between different gases is accelerated by a planar shock wave: the interface is set into downward motion and its evolution is studied with a variety of techniques including planar Mie scattering, planar laser induced fluorescence, and particle image velocimetry. In a second experiment, a soap bubble filled with a stochiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen diluted in a neutral gas (e.g. xenon) is released in free fall inside the shock tube and accelerated by a planar shock wave. Diffraction of the shock across the bubble generates a complicated system of reverberating waves, the distortion of the bubble, the formation of one or more vortex rings, and the ignition of the hydrogen-oxygen mixture. The bubble evolution is investigated with planar Mie scattering, and the imaging of the chemoluminescence due to the decay of the OH radical.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Contact

537, Engineering Research Building
1500 Engineering Dr
Madison, WI

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  • PhD 1992, California Institute of Technology
  • MS 1985, California Institute of Technology
  • Laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica 1983, Università di Ancona

  • experimental fluid mechanics
  • impulsive, unsteady phenomena
  • shock tube applications
  • laser and X-ray imaging & measuring techniques

  • 2016 College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Leaders in Engineering and Diversity Scholar Award
  • 2011 Polygon Engineering Council, University of Wisconsin Madison, Outstanding Instructor Award
  • 1998 National Science Foundation, NSF CAREER Award
  • 1991 California Institute of Technology, Ernest E. Sechler Memorial Award in Aeronautics
  • 1983 Universit`a di Ancona, Italy, Laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica awarded "cum laude"

  • Porter, W. P., Bertz, A. E., Mathewson, P. D., Solorzano, L. C., Dudley, P. N., Bonazza, R., & Gebremedhin, K. G. (2023). Climate Spaces and Cliffs: A Novel Bovine Thermodynamic and Mass Balances Model. Animals, 13(19), 3043.
  • Bonazza, R., McConnell, R., Ames, A., Oakley, J., & Rothamer, D. (2023). Effect of wall vortices on RMI shock tube experiments. Bulletin of the American Physical Society.
  • Ames, A., McConnell, R., Oakley, J., Rothamer, D., & Bonazza, R. (2023). Inhomogeneous vortex-shock interactions. Bulletin of the American Physical Society.
  • McConnell, R., Ames, A., Oakley, J., Rothamer, D., & Bonazza, R. (2023). Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability Coupled with a Chemical Reaction. Bulletin of the American Physical Society.
  • Noble, C. D., Ames, A. M., McConnell, R., Oakley, J., Rothamer, D. A., & Bonazza, R. (2023). Simultaneous measurements of kinetic and scalar energy spectrum time evolution in the Richtmyer--Meshkov instability upon reshock. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 975, A39.
  • Bonazza, R. (2022). Research Activities at the Wisconsin Shock Tube Laboratory. In Frontiers of Shock Wave Research (pp. 57–82). Springer International Publishing Cham.
  • Ames, A., Noble, C., McConnell, R., Oakley, J., Rothamer, D., & Bonazza, R. (2022). Turbulent mixing in multifluid vortex rings before & after shock interaction. Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 67.
  • McConnell, R., Noble, C., Ames, A., Oakley, J., Rothamer, D., & Bonazza, R. (2022). Wall Vortices Induced by Re-Shock in RMI Shock Tube Experiments. Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 67.
  • Ames, A., Noble, C., Herzog, J., Rothamer, D., Oakley, J., & Bonazza, R. (2021). High-speed simultaneous velocity & density measurement of compressible multifluid shock-vortex interaction. In APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts (pp. P10–011).
  • Noble, C., Ames, A., Herzog, J., Oakley, J., Rothamer, D., McConnell, R., & Bonazza, R. (2021). High-Speed Simultaneous Velocity and Concentration measurements of the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability Upon Re-Shock. In APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts (pp. P10–007).

  • E M A 522 - Aerodynamics Lab (Spring 2025)
  • E M A 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • M E 572 - Intermediate Gas Dynamics (Spring 2025)
  • E M A 524 - Rocket Propulsion (Fall 2024)
  • E M A 599 - Independent Study (Fall 2024)
  • E M A 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • E M A 599 - Independent Study (Summer 2024)
  • E M A 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • E M A 522 - Aerodynamics Lab (Spring 2024)
  • E M A 599 - Independent Study (Spring 2024)
  • E M A 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • M E 572 - Intermediate Gas Dynamics (Spring 2024)
  • M E 699 - Advanced Independent Study (Spring 2024)
  • N E 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Spring 2024)
  • E M A 524 - Rocket Propulsion (Fall 2023)
  • E M A 599 - Independent Study (Fall 2023)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Summer 2023)
  • N E 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Summer 2023)