Current appointments
- Swire Professor of Aerospace Engineering
- Chair Professor of Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Director of Aerodynamics and Acoustics Facility
- Director of HKUST-HKSI Joint Center for Sports Science and Technology
- Director of HKUST-Li-Ning Joint Laboratory for Sports Science and Technologies
- Director of Sports Science and Technology Research Center
- Associate Director of Low Altitude Economy Research Center
Biography
Professor Xin Zhang holds the position of Swire Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He received his PhD degree in fluid mechanics from the University of Cambridge, UK, and his BEng in aerospace engineering from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Prof. Zhang is primarily engaged in research and development concerning the aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of aircraft, aero engines, unmanned aerial vehicles, and electric aircraft, alongside advanced aero sports technology. He is an authority in aircraft noise, including airframe and propulsion system noise, as well as drone and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) noise. He has advanced the fundamental understanding of noise generation, developed novel and accurate numerical prediction schemes, devised effective methods for noise attenuation, and designed physics-based predictive codes widely used by the industry.
Over a 25-year period, his research led to the establishment of the Airbus Aircraft Noise Technology Centre (ANTC) at Southampton in 2008, which remains Airbus’s only university-based technology center in the world and a major center of excellence in aircraft noise technology. ANTC collaborates directly with Airbus on airframe noise, engine noise, physics-based aircraft noise models, computational aeroacoustics, aircraft interior noise modeling, sound transmission, and noise control. Airbus, a company producing roughly half of the world's aircraft, has integrated the outcomes of Zhang's research into its core design processes. Professor Zhang was the academic in charge of the R.J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel, overseeing collaborations with the aerospace industry, including Airbus and Rolls-Royce and Formula 1 racing teams. He served as the Airbus Professor of Aircraft Engineering and Director of ANTC from 2008 to 2015. Since returning to Hong Kong in 2015, Professor Zhang has spearheaded the development of the Aerospace Engineering program and led the design and construction of state-of-the-art wind tunnels and acoustic facilities at HKUST. His research team of Aerodynamics, Acoustics and Noise Control Technology Centre (AANTC, https://aantc.ust.hk/) works closely with domestic and international aviation sectors, including the drone and eVTOL industries. He has established strong research partnerships with major organizations such as the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC), DJI, and the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI). Additionally, Professor Zhang serves as the Vice President of the Hong Kong Aviation Industry Association (HKAIA). He is also the Convenor of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Joint TC20 SC16-TC43 SC1 Workgroup on Noise Measurement for UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems), leading the development of international ISO noise standards for drones.
To date, Professor Zhang has published more than 460 papers, including more than 220 archival journal papers. An innovative and effective educator, he established the world’s first MSc course in racing car aerodynamics. He has successfully supervised nearly 80 PhD and EngD students as the main supervisor, whose alumni now hold prominent positions in academia, the aerospace and automotive industries, government, and other sectors.
Research interests
- Aeroacoustics, in particular airframe, engine noise, drone and eVTOL noise
- Aerodynamics, including aircraft aerodynamics, racing car aerodynamics, sports aerodynamics
- Sports science and technology
Research projects
- Aircraft airframe noise: Aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of a flap side-edge
- Racing car aerodynamics: Aerodynamics of oscillating wings
- Racing car aerodynamics: Aerodynamic interaction between a wing and wheels
- Racing car aerodynamics: Wheel aerodynamics
- Racing car aerodynamics: Large-scale source term modelling of vortex generation
- Aircraft airframe noise: Computational aeroacoustics of bogie noise
- Aircraft airframe noise: Effect of bogie inclination on the unsteady flow field and noise production
- Aircraft airframe noise: Noise control of landing gear using perforated fairings
- Aircraft airframe noise: Large-eddy simulation of jet interaction with a wing
- Aircraft airframe noise: Slat noise attenuation with acoustic liner treatment
- Aircraft airframe noise: Investigation of aircraft noise in steep approach
- Aircraft airframe noise: Blowing for bluff-body noise control
- Aircraft Engine Studies: Modelling next generation CROR aircraft
- Aircraft Engine Studies: Development of a whole-aircraft noise model
- Aircraft Engine Studies: Efficient computation of sound radiation on adaptively refined mesh
- Aircraft Engine Studies: Modelling of aircraft sound propagation
Publications
- Dielectric barrier discharge based jet actuator for flow control (2011)
- Airfoil flow control usiug plasma actuation and coauda effect (2011)
- Large-scale vortex generation modeling (2011)
- Aerodynamics of a heaving airfoil in ground effect (2011)
- On the unsteady motion and stability of a heaving airfoil in ground effect (2011)
- Multifidelity surrogate modeling of experimental and computational aerodynamic data sets (2011)
- Time-domain broadband liner optimization (2010)
- The use of blowing flow control to reduce bluff body interaction noise (2010)
- Detached-eddy simulation of a double-element wing in ground effect (2010)
- Aerodynamics of an oscillating wing in ground effect (2010)
- Aeroacoustic investigation of deployed spoiler during steep approach landing (2010)
- “Encyclopedia in Aerospace Engineering” – acoustics and noise (2010)
- Time-domain computation of multimode propagation in an aeroengine duct (2010)
- Reprint of: Time-domain computation of multimode propagation in an aeroengine duct (2010)
- Ground Effect Aerodynamics (2010)
- Airframe Noise – High Lift Device Noise (2010)
- Patched characteristic interface conditions for high-order multiblock aeroacoustic computation (2010)
- Broadband flow-induced sound control using plasma actuators (2010)
- Landing gear noise control using perforated fairings (2010)
- Identification and attenuation of a tonal-noise source on an aircraft's landing gear (2010)
- Plasma actuators for noise control (2010)
- Computational investigation of a race car wing with vortex generators in ground effect (2010)
- The use of plasma actuators for bluff body broadband noise control (2010)
- Patched characteristic interface condition for high-order aeroacoustic computation (2009)
- Optimal surrogate modelling approaches for combining experimental and computational fluid dynamics data sets (2009)
- Large-scale source term modeling of vortex generation (2009)
- High-order interface for CFD and CAA simulation (2009)
- Numerical investigation of broadband slat noise attenuation with acoustic liner treatment (2009)
- Flow separation control on a race car wing with vortex gnerators in ground effect (2009)
- Flow physics of a race car wing with wortex generators in ground effect (2009)
- The aerodynamic interaction between an inverted wing and a rotating wheel (2009)
- Measurements of flow around a flap side edge with porous edge treatment (2009)
- Bluff body noise control using perforated fairings (2009)
- Sound radiation from a bypass duct with bifurcations (2009)
- The use of a fairing and split plate for bluff body noise control (2008)
- Sound radiation from a generic bypass duct with bifurcations (2008)
- Perforated fairings for landing gear noise control (2008)
- Broadband slat noise attenuation with acoustic liner treatment (2008)
- Bluff body noise and flow control with atmospheric plasma actuators (2008)
- Adaptive mesh refinement computation of acoustic radiation from an engine intake (2008)
- Streamwise and spanwise plasma actuators for flow-induced cavity noise control (2008)
- Efficient computation of spinning modal radiation through an engine bypass duct (2008)
- Variable structure model for flow-induced tonal noise control with plasma actuators (2008)
- Unsteady RANS and detached-eddy simulations of flow around a circular cylinder in ground effect (2008)
- Variable structure model for flow-induced tonal noise control with plasma actuators (2007)
- Perforated fairings for Bluff body noise control (2007)
- Noise sources control of an aircraft landing gear (2007)
- Measurements of flow around a split flap configuration (2007)
- Unsteady simulations of the flow around a short surface-mounted cylinder (2007)
- Aerodynamic model of a hill climb racing car (2007)
- Atmospheric plasma actuators for aeroacoustic applications (2007)
- Computation of Fan Noise Radiation through an Engine Exhaust Geometry with Flow (2007)
- Attenuation of low-speed flow-induced cavity tones using plasma actuators (2007)
- Vortex shedding from a circular cylinder near a moving ground (2007)
- Detached eddy simulation of flow around a circular cylinder in ground effect (2006)
- Measurements of flow around a flap side-edge with porous edge treatment (2006)
- An experimental study of flow around a circular cylinder with and without end plates in ground effect (2006)
- Adaptive mesh refinement computation of acoustic radiation from an engine intake (2006)
- Ground effect aerodynamics research of racing cars (2006)
- Attenuation of Slat Trailing Edge Noise Using Acoustic Liners (2006)
- Computational analysis of a inverted double-element airfoil in ground effect (2006)
- A Fourier Pseudospectral Method for Some Computational Aeroacoustics Problems (2006)
- A computational study of the flow around an isolated wheel in contact with the ground (2006)
- Ground effect aerodynamics of race cars (2006)
- The attenuation of cavity tones using plasma actuators (2005)
- Slat noise attenuation using acoustic liner (2005)
- Parallel computation of 3D acoustic radiation from an engine intake (2005)
- Adaptive mesh refinement for computational aeroacoustics (2005)
- Aerodynamics of a Half-Cylinder in Ground Effect (2005)
- Measurements of the flow over a low-aspect-ratio cylinder mounted on a ground plane (2005)
- Acoustic radiation from a semi-infinite duct with a subsonic jet (2005)
- Computational analysis of pressure and wake characteristics of an aerofoil in ground effect (2005)
- Vortical structures over rectangular cavities at low speed (2005)
- The evolution of edge vortices underneath a diffuser equipped bluff body (2004)
- Numerical investigation of subsonic 2D/3D cavity flows (2004)
- Edge vortices of a double element wing in ground effect (2004)
- Computation of mode radiation from a generic aeroengine intake (2004)
- Acoustic radiation computation from an engine inlet with aerodynamic flow field (2004)
- The evaluation of non-reflecting boundary conditions for duct acoustic computation (2004)
- Journal of Sound and Vibration: Preface (2004)
- Computation of spinning modal radiation from an unflanged duct (2004)
- Edge vortices of a double-element wing in ground effect (2004)
- Vortices behind a bluff body with an upswept aft section in ground effect (2004)
- Time accurate numerical study of turbulent supersonic jets (2004)
- Computational aeroacoustic simulations of leading-edge slat flow (2004)
- The evaluation of a buffer zone as an inflow/outflow boundary condition for computational aeroacoustic applications (2004)
- A numerical method for computation of sound radiation from an unflanged duct (2004)
- Linearized Euler simulations of leading-edge slat flow (2003)
- Computation of fan noise radiation through a realistic engine exhaust geometry with flow (2003)
- The evolution of co-rotating vortices in a canonical boundary layer with inclined jets (2003)
- Off-surface aerodynamic measurements of a wing in ground effect (2003)
- Influence of diffuser angle on a bluff body in ground effect (2003)
- A numerical investigation of the noise radiated by a turbulent flow over a cavity (2003)
- Aerodynamics of a double-element wing in ground effect (2003)
- Optimized prefactored compact schemes (2003)
- Tip vortices generated by a wing in ground effect (2002)
- A numerical method for noise radiation from an unflanged duct (2002)
- Unsteady aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of a high-lift device configuration (2002)
- Aerodynamics of a double element wing in ground effect (2002)
- Unsteady aerodynamics of slat cove flow in a high-lift device configuration (2001)