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M. Quinn Brewster

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Hermia G. Soo Professor

Professor

Contact Information

• Office: 1101c Mechanical Engineering Laboratory
• Mailing Address:
  

  1101c Mechanical Engineering Laboratory
  1206 West Green Street, MC-244
  Urbana, IL 61801

• Phone Number: 217-244-1628
• Fax Number: 217-244-6534
• Email Address: brewster AT uiuc.edu

Research Description

Professor Brewster conducts fundamental scientific and engineering research in radiation heat transfer, solid propellant and metal combustion, thermophysical properties of materials, and laser-aided materials processing. He recently examined flames that are less than a tenth of a millimeter in length, and is especially interested in the flame structure of composite solid propellants. Because performing controlled experiments on propellants that burn unsteadily at the micron scale is so difficult, Professor Brewster's research group scientifically reduced the problem from a three-dimensional unsteady state to a two-dimensional steady state problem by sandwiching a layer of polymer fuel between two layers of ammonium perchlorate. Using this "sandwich laminate," they examined the entire burn phenomenon through a technique that uses ultraviolet light to image both the surface of a solid propellant and the gas-phase flame zone during a burn.

Continue reading about Prof. Brewster's research.