MEMSDUKEPRATT School of engineering

Education

  • PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1973
  • SM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1970
  • BS, Princeton, 1968
Donald B Bliss
  • Office Location: 148B Engineering Building
  • Office Phone: (919) 660-5315, (919) 660-5298
  • Email Address: donald.bliss@duke.edu
  • Professor Bliss has broad research interests in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, acoustics, and structural dynamics. His work emphasizes improved understandings of physical phenomena and the development of innovative ways to solve important engineering problems. Professor Bliss recently developed a general analysis method called Analytical/Numerical matching (ANM) that combines numerical and analytical solutions to gain accuracy and computational efficiency. ANM is currently being applied to a variety of problems in aerodynamics and structural acoustics.

    Much of Professor Bliss' research on fluid flows involves the aerodynamics of lifting surfaces and vortex wakes. For helicopter wakes he has developed curved vortex elements, constant vorticity contour wake models, and influence coefficient techniques. In collaboration with a private company, these have been incorporated into commercially available computer programs used by industry and government to predict helicopter performance, vibration, and noise. Currently, ANM is being used to develop a new unified treatment of lifting surfaces and wakes in unsteady compressible flow. Professor Bliss is also developing a new vortex roll-up analysis, and using ANM to study helicopter blade/vortex interaction.

    In acoustics, Professor Bliss' primary effort is in the application of ANM to structural acoustics, particularly to acoustic scattering from submerged elastic bodies with structural discontinuities. He has also developed a method called Alternate Resonance Tuning (ART) to prevent low frequency sound transmission into flexible wall enclosures, with applications to aircraft interior noise. He also conducts research on mathematical homogenization applied to structural acoustic systems, and on general boundary conditions for bulk-reacting sound absorbing surfaces.

    Specialties
    Aerodynamics
    Acoustics
    Fluid Mechanics

    TEACHING (Fall 2009)

    ME 237.01, AERODYNAMICS, MWF 11:55 AM-12:45 PM
    ME 265.05, ADVANCED TOPICS, MWF 08:45 AM-09:35 AM

    TEACHING (Spring 2010)

    ME 236.01, ENGINEERING ACOUSTICS,

    Recent Publications More Publications

    1. Bliss, D.B. and Franzoni, L.P., A field equation approach to predict energy and intensity of nonuniform time-dependent broadband sound fields in enclosures with diffuse reflection, 8th International Congress on Acoustics, (2004), ppt. 4 pp. - [abs]
    2. Danilov, P.V. and Bliss, D.B., Homogenization of periodic structures using wavenumber filtering for efficient numerical solution, 8th International Congress on Acoustics, (2004), ppt. 4 pp. - [abs]
    3. Park, Christopher D. and Franzoni, Linda P. and Bliss, Donald B., Analytical-numerical matching for fluid-loaded structures with discontinuities, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 116 no. 5 (2004), ppt. 2956 - 2968 , [1.1798272] [abs]
    4. Danilov, Pavel and Bliss, Donald, Local/global homogenization of fluid-loaded periodic structures, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 116 no. 2 (2004), ppt. 879 - 890 , [1.1766022] [abs]
    5. Dowell, Earl H. and Bliss, Donald B. and Clark, Robert L., Aeroelastic wing with leading- and trailing-edge control surfaces, Journal of Aircraft, vol. 40 no. 3 (2003), ppt. 559 - 565 [abs]

    Research Interests

      fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, acoustics, and structural dynamics

    The mission of Duke's Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science educational programs is to provide the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed to be successful in the practice of engineering; the preparation necessary to undertake professional registration; an educational preparation for graduate or professional study; and an education background that is the basis for professional growth and leadership throughout a career that may encompass a broad range of endeavors, both technical and non-technical.