Giovanni Ferrara
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Contacts
Curriculum: download Publications: link |
Biography
Giovanni Ferrara was born in Firenze, Italy on 26/01/1970. He received his master degree in Mechanical Engineering on 07/03/1995 from the University of Florence, with the thesis "Refrigeration techniques for gas turbine blades: determination of the temperature distribution in the rotor blades". On 01/01/1999, he attained the PhD in Industrial and Reliability Engineering, with the thesis "Low-emission combustion and high efficiency blade cooling: key elements in the development of heavy duty gas turbines".
Currently, he is Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Florence, coordinating all the teaching activities related to Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs).
Its research team, the REASE group, is involved in the numerical and experimental characterisation of ICEs, with a particular attitude towards integration with the industry; in fact, the group benefits from various collaborations with the companies of the sector (Yanmar, Piaggio, Ducati, HPE, etc...). Another fundamental field of investigation, which in the recent years has brought the group to the attention of the scientific community, is represented by wind energy, in particular the design and analysis of horizontal- and vertical-axis wind turbines.
Research Projects & Areas of Interests
Internal combustion engines
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efficiency improvement of small engines through the development of engine-vehicle simulation tools and their calibration and experimental validation.
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development of measurements approaches for the experimental analysis of the engines (pyrometry, widespread use of dynamic pressure sensors, etc..)
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experimental and numerical development of techniques for muffler analysis (realization of an acoustic bench with counter-flow), considering the analysis of the acoustic parameters (TL, impedance, etc..), the fluid-structure interaction and the theme of the sound quality.
Wind Energy
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design and optimization of medium and small-size wind turbines
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development of in-house simulation codes for HAWTs and VAWTs
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detailed CFD simulations of wind turbine airfoils
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CFD analyses of Darrieus wind turbine and conventional HAWTs
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non-conventional siting